1. In a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil – allow to come to temperature without scorching.
2. Add shallots – finely chopped – and stir while cooking until they begin to become translucent.
3. Add garlic.
4. Score ham hock vertically from top to bottom in three places and add to pot.
5. Add black pepper and smoked paprika.
6. Cover with vegetable stock and allow to come to boil.
7. Reduce to medium low heat and simmer for approximately 6 hours.
8. From from heat, allow to cool and refrigerate overnight.
9. Remove ham hock and return to heat. Bring to boil.
10. Lower heat to medium and add split peas.
11. Cook at a low boil for approximately 90 minutes.
12. Reduce heat and using an immersion blender, incorporate all ingredients – EXCEPT HAM HOCK.
13. Bask in the afterglow of effusive compliments of twenty dollar ingredients becoming the perfect split pea soup recipe.
14. Add shredded ham to pot and bring to temperature.

Harkening back to ancient Egyptians or Greeks, the robust, hearty flavor and relatively simplicity of split pea soup has made it and autumnal comfort food for millennia. With a mere handful of ingredients including split peas and the inherent smokiness of a ham hock, a split pea soup recipe has always filled the tummy without emptying the bank account.

From ancient times to the Middle Ages, split pea soup found its way to the stock pots of Europe before booking steerage to make its way to the shores of North America where it has long been beloved and fortified with the addition of bacon or the robust, smoky flavor of a simple ham hock. As with many of our most popular recipes, split pea soup offered simplicity, affordability and nutrition, gaining notoriety in times of hardship including The Great Depression and both World Wars when food resources were often scarce.

Most often and understandably served with fresh baked bread – particularly the perennially popular sourdough – a garnish of onion sprouts – brings the shallot undertones forward. Served with seared shrimp or lobster – remembering that lobster was once a poor man's food – and the simplest of soups is elevated back to times when the gods of the ancient worlds knew what they were talking about – likely over a bowl of split pea soup, with fresh baked bread.

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