Foodie Friday Split Pea Soup with Bacon and Rosemary

I have to say I love holidays! Especially the food :) I wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a green recipe and it was kind of chilly, rainy and even hailed a wee bit this past week. So, I thought a soup would warm the belly and I happen to love Split Pea Soup. I wanted to change the recipe a wee bit and add something nice to it to give it a interesting flavor...no not shamrock :) It turned out to be a nice pot o' gold...I mean green :)

Split Pea Soup with Bacon and Rosemary

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg bacon, chopped into roughly equal pieces
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, washed, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, washed and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 16 oz. pkg dried split peas
• 8 cups or 4 cans chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled
• 2 dashes dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. of any vinegar

Directions:

1. Place bacon in a large soup pot over a medium high heat.
2. When the bacon is brown and crispy drain all but 2 tbsp. of fat (there wasn't much fat when we made this so we left all of it in)
3. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot and sauté for a few minutes.
4. Add the dried peas, stock, parsley, rosemary and salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and continue cooking on medium low covered until the soup is thick and the peas are completely soft.(approx. 1 hour)
6. Stir in the vinegar.