Snert (Split Pea Soup) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 (14 ounce) bag dried split peas
1 ham hock
3 slices bacon, chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water, plus more as needed
4 small potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 leek, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery with leaves, stalks diced and leaves chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (1 pound) package smoked sausage, sliced

Preparation

Place dried split peas, ham hock, and bacon into slow cooker; pour in chicken broth and 3 1/2 cups water.
Cover cooker and cook on High until peas are tender and broken apart, 3 to 4 hours. Stir in more water as needed to prevent soup from burning on the bottom. Stir occasionally throughout cooking.
Stir potatoes, carrots, leek, onion, celery, and garlic into soup; mix in more water, if needed. Cover and cook soup on High for 2 more hours.
Season with salt, black pepper, thyme, nutmeg, and cloves; mix sausage slices into soup. Cover and cook 2 more hours to blend the flavors.