Jade's Ultimate Pea Soup

• 1 pound bag of dry green peas
• 1 good sized ham bone
• 6 - 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 3 large garlic cloves (minced)
• 3 stalks celery (chopped)
• 4 medium carrots (chopped)
• 4 small red potatoes (chopped)
• 2 fresh bay leafs
• several stems fresh rosemary leaves (chopped)
• 1 ring smoked kielbasa or other sausage

Rinse peas, scrub other vegetables (peal only the paper from onion and garlic). Place peas, ham bone, bay leafs and about 6 or 8 cups stock (enough to just cover ham bone) in a 4 quart dutch oven. Heat until boiling. Cover and turn down to low simmer for about one hour, mixing every 20 minutes. Meanwhile chop rosemary and all the vegetables except potatoes. During the last 20 minutes of the first hour, preheat a medium sized sauté pan with approximately 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Start by sautéing the onions with a bit of salt and a few turns of pepper, until translucent. Add garlic and celery with a bit more salt and pepper. Sauté approximately five minutes before adding carrots and rosemary. Sauté another 5-10 minutes. Remove ham bone to plate and set aside. Add vegetables to pea soup mixture. Continue to stir every 15 - 20 minutes. Cover and continue to simmer. Chop potatoes and kielbasa, when ham bone is cooled remove any bits of ham add to pot with potato and kielbasa (I used turkey kielbasa). Uncover and simmer for another hour or two. Add salt and pepper to taste. If soup gets too thick add a bit more stock. Serve with home made garlic cr0utons.