Hearty Ham and Split Pea Soup with Potatoes

From America's Test Kitchen Season 3: Hearty Soups

Split pea soup tends to show up on the home cook’s menu only when the previous meal (usually a holiday celebration) featured a big ham—and the leftovers are begging to be made into soup. We wanted a recipe for an old-fashioned ham and split pea soup that could be made anytime, with a readily available cut of meat that would also provide enough meat for the soup. Ham stock is essential for this soup, and we found that you can get it with a picnic shoulder, a small, inexpensive cut that adds great flavor and provides plenty of meat for the soup and some leftovers too. As for soaking the peas beforehand, a step called for in many soup recipes, we found it wasn’t necessary; they were easy enough to cook in the ham stock. Our vegetables, on the other hand, benefited from a sauté in a separate pan. We started out wanting a one-pot operation, but found that caramelized vegetables gave this straightforward soup a richness and depth of flavor that had been missing from traditional versions—it was well worth the time spent washing an extra pan. Finished with a splash of mildly sweet balsamic vinegar, this rich and meaty split pea soup was now perfectly balanced.