Directions

1Cut the bacon into small pieces. Trim as much meat from the ham hock as possible, use the ham hock meat for the topping but be sure to add some meat into the soup as well, if there is not enough meat from the hock make sure to have more available to cook in the soup.

2In a pressure cooker fry the chopped bacon for 4-5 minutes or until crisp. Add the onion, one quarter of the carrots and celery to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown. Add the water, vegetable bouillon, thyme, salt and pepper and dry roux.

3In a separate pan remove about 2 cups of only the liquid from the main pot and add the carrots and chopped ham, cook over medium heat while the rest of the soup cooks in the pressure cooker.

4Rinse and drain the split peas and add to the pot with the bay leaves, potato and ham and ham hock. Bring the mix to a boil over high heat stirring constantly, cover pressure cooker and bring to pressure as quickly as possible to avoid burning the peas. Reduce heat to low and cook at pressure for 20min then quick release.

5Remove the thyme sprigs, bay leaves and ham hock. Add the broth from the separate pan to the main pot and set the carrots and ham aside. Process the soup in a blender or a food processor until smooth, return to the rinsed pan. Add the carrots and chopped ham to the soup and heat through gently. Season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme if available and serve.