• bacon - 2 strips
• yellow onion - 1 whole onion, chopped
• celery - 4 stalks, chopped
• carrots - 3, peeled and chopped
• garlic - 2 cloves, minced
• marjoram - 2 1/2 tsp, dried
• split peas - 1 1/2 cups dried, green
• water - 8 cups
• ham - 1 1/2 lbs, good quality, preferably smoked ham hocks. Note, if using regular ham, keep it in large pieces.

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon. When the bacon is crispy, remove it and reserve it but leave the bacon fat in the pot. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to the bacon fat. Sauté until soft and just beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add pork and marjoram and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add peas, stir to coat, and then add water. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring every 5-10 minutes, for 1 hour 15 minutes or until pork is tender and peas are falling apart.

Remove ham from soup. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup (if using a standard blender, add soup in batches to blender, being careful of splashes if the soup is hot). Cut pork up into small chunks and add back to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. When serving, you can crumble the bacon over the top.

This can be made ahead and actually tastes better with age (a day or two after initially making)!