Canning – Split Pea or Habitant Soup

I’ve never been a fan of split pea soup. Gerry likes it so I decided this would be a good staple to have on the shelf during the winter as my goal is to stop purchasing all store-bought canned goods. I served a bowl of this for lunch and it’s actually really quite good. Who knew?! The nice thing about this is that I can make a batch anytime I find ham on sale.

The recipe I used is derived from the classic Ball Blue Book.

Yield: 5 pints or 2 quarts.

Ingredients

16 ounce package of dried split peas
2 quarts (8 cups) water  (next time I make it I’ll use my own vegetable broth)
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced cooked ham
1 bay leaf
 1/4 tsp. allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine dried peas and water in large pot.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 1 hour or until peas are soft.

Puree the cooked peas in a food processor.

Return puree to saucepan and add remaining ingredients.

Summer for 30 minutes.

Ladle soup into hot jars, leaving 1 inch head space.

Adjust two-piece caps.

Process at 10 pounds pressure–pints 1 hour and 15 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 30 minutes. For my altitude here in Kamloops I need to process at 11 pounds pressure. You need to check the altitude for your location and adjust accordingly.