Begin by cooking the knuckle. Place in a deep pan and cover completely with cold water. Bring to a simmer over a medium-high heat, skimming any residue that appears on the surface of the liquid
1 ham knuckle
2
Add the whole celery stick, onion, carrot and 1 of the bay leaves. Bring everything back up to a simmer and cook for 2 hours and 30 minutes, topping up the water if needed during cooking
1 celery stick, whole
1 onion, whole
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, whole
3
After this time, remove the knuckle and set aside to cool. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve and weigh out 1.75l to use later as stock for the soup (any leftover stock can be frozen for future use)
4
Add the roughly chopped celery and onion to a food processor and blitz to a fine pulp
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
5
Place a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and melt the butter. Add the celery and onion mixture and allow to sweat down, without colour, for 4–5 minutes
50g of butter
6
Add the green split peas and continue to cook for another 3–4 minutes, then add the strained ham stock, remaining bay leaf, chopped garlic and a pinch of ground white pepper and salt
250g of green split peas
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 pinch of ground white pepper
1 pinch of salt
7
Bring up to the boil, then simmer for 2 hours and 30 minutes until the peas are fully cooked through. Leave the soup chunky for a rustic texture or blitz with a hand blender to create a smooth soup
8
Shred or chop the meat from the cooked knuckle into fine strips. Serve the hot soup garnished with the ham with some crusty bread on the side