In a large pot, melt the butter on high heat. Next, add in the garlic, onions, and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.
Next, add in the ham bone, salt, pepper, celery seed, bay leaves, split peas, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes, mixing occasionally to ensure the soup does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Finishing the Pea and Ham Soup:
Remove the ham bone from the soup. With a fork, remove (pull) any lean pieces of ham from the bone and add the ham back into the soup.
Next, add in the additional 2 cups of diced ham. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the soup reaches the desired thickness.
How to Serve Pea and Ham Soup:
Serve this pea and ham soup with a thick slice of toasted bread.
Notes
Invent Your Recipe:For this pea and ham soup I am using leftover ham from Thanksgiving. If you do not have a leftover ham bone, you can use any ham for this recipe, except sliced deli meat. Just ensure the ham is at least ¼-inch thick so the diced pieces do not melt away in the soup.Instead of slip-peas you can make this recipe with lentils. I have done this before with green and red lentils. If using red lentils, add them in with the diced ham pieces toward the end of the recipe. The red lentils only need about 15-20 minutes to cook and thicken.I am not a fan of thick pieces of celery, so I chose to use celery seed instead for the flavor. For a more traditional recipe, use fresh diced celery instead.