Swedish pea soup

I came back from holidays with the fam to an empty fridge and freezer, determined to fill it back up (or at least to start). Although I didn't cook as much as I'd planned to this weekend, I did manage to make two batches of soup and also (wait for it) bake another ham. (It's for the ham bone, I swear.) A new pork-related recipe for the new year? Clearly "keeping kosher" was not one of my New Year's resolutions ;-).

Swedish pea soup
adapted from this recipe

1 ham bone
1 lb split green peas (technically most of a lb plus some chana dal...)
1 1/2 jumbo onions, chopped fine
1/2 onion, stuck with 10 whole cloves (um, did the original recipe say to use two? oops)
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
diced ham

Add the first four ingredients to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for a couple hours or so, adding more water if necessary to thin the soup. (I also fished out the clove-studded onion after about an hour or so, since the smell of cloves was disturbingly strong - what a surprise.) Remove the ham bone from the pot and add the dried herbs and ham. Simmer for another half hour or so. Adjust the seasonings and serve.

The original recipe called for serving this with a grainy mustard. Intriguing - I'll try it.