Split Pea Soup With Ham

After Thanksgiving we had about 1/2 a ham leftover. I made both ham and turkey. I wasn't sure what to do with the ham other than ham sandwiches. But Tai suggested split pea soup. I think I made it last year with the leftover ham but lost the recipe I used. I found this recipe from Martha and tweaked it.

Split Pea Soup With Ham
(adapted from Martha Stewart.com)

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced fine
4 carrots, sliced thin
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbs butter
3 cups of chicken broth
4 cups of water
1 package of split peas (rinsed and picked over for rocks)
ham (as much or as little as you like)

Saute the garlic and thyme in the butter. Once the garlic and thyme starts to release their fragrance (about 1-2 minutes), add onion and carrots. Cook til onions and carrots start to get soft (about 8-10 minutes). Then add peas, ham, broth and water.
I knew I was going to blend the soup to make it creamy. But the idea of blending the ham didn't appeal to me. Since I had ham bits rather than ham chunks I needed to be creative. So I bundled the ham in cheesecloth. The ham added it's hammy goodness to the soup and I could have ham pieces in the soup, not ham puree.
Bring soup to a boil, then cover and lower heat to medium low for 45 minutes. Remove ham bundle. Blend soup with an immersion blender til creamy. I left some of the carrots whole for fun. Dice ham and add to soup.
It's fairly thick so add more broth/water if you like it thinner.