Split Pea Soup With Ham

 During cold weather, you can't beat a nice hearty soup.

This recipe is a great way to make use of that ham bone you put in the freezer a while back.

I have made this recipe many times, it is just like mom used to make.

I start out with 6 cups of liquid. You can use all broth, or all water. I use a mix of both. If soup is too thick, add more liquid as desired.

 This is written for an Instant Pot cooker.  You can use a Dutch oven or a stockpot, it just takes much longer!

INGREDIENTS:

1 ham bone (with meat)

1 lb. bag split peas

6 cups liquid (chicken broth, water, bouillon)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 celery stalks, 1/4 inch dice

2 carrots, split and chopped 

1 med. onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 Tbs butter

Salt, pepper, dried thyme, Italian seasoning for flavor

Chop veggies and sauté in oil until onion is soft. (add garlic last)

Add liquid and seasonings. 

Sort and rinse peas, add into liquid. 

Drop in ham bone, cover and seal

Set pressure to 17 minutes, natural release. 

Remove ham bone, remove any meat, chop and return meat to pot.

If peas are still to intact, return to pressure for 5 more minutes

Cook on slow cook mode, with pressure valve open until served.

I like to drizzle some good olive oil on top when serving into bowls.

TicTock Pasta ?

TicToc Pasta ? I don't care about TicToc, and I don't care about most of the trends discovered there.

Okay, but, I had to try it. I think it would have been boring if not for my upgrades.

Would more than 3 ingredients overwhelm their attention span ?

I can't wait until they melt together, peanut butter and chocolate !  Whee !

Just a thought here, on my part.... Goat cheese, tomatoes and basil go really well together, Hmmm.....

Okay, so here is what I threw together for my "Baked Feta Pasta"

4 oz penne, or your favorite pasta

2  pints cherry tomatoes 

1  8oz block of Feta cheese

4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 dash red pepper flakes

3 garlic cloves (minced)

2 Tbs grated parmesan

6  fresh basil leaves

salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400f.

In a medium baking dish, dump the tomatoes.

Drizzle with 2 Tbs olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.

Drop in the feta cheese block and turn to coat all in oil.

Prepare pasta, drain and keep warm.

Bake tomatoes and feta for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes have burst.

Remove from oven and add minced garlic, basil, and pasta.

Stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

Return to oven for 10 minutes longer to heat through. 

Remove from oven and serve.