Note: If you don't have a high-speed blender, it's probably best to go with the partially pureed version rather than trying to puree all the vegetables and meat as well as the peas. A stick blender won't get the puree perfectly smooth, but it's fine if you don't mind some texture.
Note: The carrots, celery, and shallots/onion can collectively be replaced with 7 c or 20 oz prepared mirepoix.
Note: If you get nuke-in-bag peas, nuking them in the bag while you chop the vegetables will considerably speed up your cooking time.
Note: The quantities given here make about 20 servings (not exaggerating). You can halve or quarter them if you want.
Ingredients0.5 c cooking-grade olive oil
4 c shredded carrots or 4–6 large whole carrots
8 stalks celery
4 large shallots or 2 small onions
24 oz ham or sausages (Aidell's chicken apple sausages work well; for a vegan soup, use vegan sausages or smoked tofu)
12 c low- or no-sodium chicken broth (for a vegan soup, use no-chicken broth or water; vegetable broth may overwhelm the flavor of the peas)
1 tsp dried thyme or 8 sprigs of fresh thyme
128 oz fresh or frozen green peas
coarsely ground black pepper
dipping-grade olive oil
parbaked rolls (optional)
Equipmentstove with two burners
two large pots with lids
wooden spoon
ladle
high-speed blender
spatula
InstructionsFor a 100% pureed soup:0)
Mise en place. Gather your ingredients and tools. Coarsely chop the celery and onion/shallot; if using whole carrots, coarsely chop them. If the sausages are frozen, fully defrost them in the microwave. If you want to bake rolls, start the toaster oven pre-heating, and add the rolls when it's hot.
1)
Cook the meat and vegetables. Heat the oil in the pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion/shallot and leave them to cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, chop up the ham/sausage. Add the meat and the thyme to the pot, grind in some black pepper, reduce the heat to medium, and let it all cook covered for 5 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
2)
Turn it into soup. Pour in the broth and bring it to a full boil. Add the peas and cook just until the peas are fully heated and tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
3)
Puree and serve. Turn the heat off. Remove the thyme stems. Puree the soup at high speed in batches, never filling the blender more than about 2/3 of the way and making sure each batch has plenty of liquid. (There will be about four batches.) Pour each batch of puree into the second pot. When all the soup is pureed, heat it until it just begins to simmer. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil on top.
For a partly pureed soup:0)
Mise en place. Gather your ingredients and tools. Finely chop the celery, onion/shallot, and carrots. If the sausages are frozen, fully defrost them in the microwave. If you want to bake rolls, start the toaster oven pre-heating, and add the rolls when it's hot.
1)
Cook the peas. Put the broth in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the peas, return to boiling (this will take quite a while), and cook just until the peas are are fully heated and tender, 1 to 3 minutes after the boiling point.
2)
Cook the meat and vegetables. While the broth and peas are cooking, heat the oil in the second pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion/shallot and leave them to cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, chop the ham/sausage into small, even pieces. Add the meat and the thyme to the pot, grind in some black pepper, reduce the heat to medium, and let it all cook covered for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. If the peas aren't done yet, reduce the heat to low.
3)
Finish and serve. Remove the thyme stems from the vegetable pot. Puree the peas and broth at high speed in batches, never filling the blender more than about 2/3 of the way and making sure each batch has plenty of liquid. Pour each batch of puree into the pot with the vegetables. Stir and heat the soup very briefly until it just begins to simmer. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil on top.
Sources:http://cookthestory.com/pea-soup-ham/ 
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