This is the recipe that I use. It is from Andersen's restaurant in Southern California. They are famous for their split pea soup. The original recipe does not call for a ham bone, but I always add one. This is a must make in our house after a ham! If there is a lot of meat on the ham bone, feel free to double the recipe. It freezes well.
Split Pea Soup
ham bone
8 cups water
2 cups green split peas
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. thyme (I use more)
1 bay leaf
dash of red pepper (cayenne)
salt and pepper to taste
Combine water, peas, ham bone, celery, carrot, onion, thyme, red pepper and bay leaf in large kettle. Boil vigourously for 20 minutes, then reduce heat, cover and simmer until peas are tender. I usually simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occaisionally. Remove the ham bone and let cool, remove all the ham, chop into bite size pieces and return to soup. This is when I season to taste with salt and pepper, since the ham bone will add lots of saltiness while it cooks. Yum!