Our weather has been crazy lately. Last week seemed like summer with 90 degrees, hot and dry. Today we woke to a cold, rainy day. Definitely a soup day! Here’s a delicious soup for a cool autumn day that you can make with leftovers: butternut squash, white-skin sweet potato, and ham. You can even use up that last bit of cream or half-and-half!
Ham and Butternut Squash Soup
1 tablespoon butter
1 sweet onion, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 stalks of celery, chopped
several slices of ham, diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced thyme (dried or fresh)
3 cups of cooked butternut squash
1 cup cooked white-skin sweet potato
1 cup half and half
fresh ground pepper
Directions:
Melt the butter in a skillet, add the onions. garlic, and celery. Stir until the onions are caramelized. Add the ham, thyme and 2 cups chicken broth. Simmer. In a blender or food processor, puree the cooked squash and sweet potato with 2 cups of chicken broth. Pour the puree into a stock pot, and stir in the onions/celery/ham/broth from the skillet. Warm the soup over medium heat, and add the half-and-half gradually. Season with fresh ground pepper.
