Harvest Soup

Don’t you just love a pot of soup simmering on top of the stove on a chilly day? Ahhhhhh….. comfort.

I played around with several pumpkin and/or squash soup recipes, scanned the contents of my kitchen cabinets, checked the produce section of my local grocery store, and then came up with this recipe for Harvest Soup. I was very pleased with the results and, there are tiny changes that will make this a healthy option!

Because this soup is pureed you can eat it in a bowl with a spoon or you can pour servings into mugs so you can curl up with a mugful and your favorite blankie. I vote for mug and blankie

Harvest Soup

Ingredients:

• 5 strips of bacon, cut into thin slices
• 2 leeks, white part only, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups cubed butternut squash (sold in produce section)
• 1 cup yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup dry sherry (not cooking sherry)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash cayenne (or more to taste)

Heat a large stockpot over medium high heat. When the pot is hot add the bacon, stirring to separate pieces. When the bacon is crisp remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel, leaving the bacon fat in the pot.

Add the leeks to the bacon fat. Ohhhhh… something magical happens the moment the leeks hit the bacon grease. Can’t you just smell the goodness?

Saute the leeks for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and continue to cook for one minute.

Add the squash and potatoes to the pan, stirring to coat with the pan drippings and leeks. Stir in the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender. Remove from heat.

Let the soup cool for about 15 minutes. You can also prepare up to this point the day before you want to serve. Simply cover and refrigerate.

Now, at this point, if you have an immersion blender, use it to blend the vegetables into a smooth puree right in the pot. I am not lucky enough to have one of these useful tools (not in the budget) so I used my blender. If you are using a blender, be very careful if the soup is still hot. Do not fill the blender to the top. Blend the soup in batches. Fill the blender half way, put the lid on, and then and then cover with a towel. (If the mixture is hot it may explode… just a little. Hah! The towel will protect you and your kitchen walls from any splashes.) Puree the soup until smooth and then pour back into your pot.

Bring soup to a low simmer and add pumpkin, cream and sherry. Simmer for five minutes and then stir in sage and ginger. Taste before adding salt, pepper and cayenne.

Serve with the reserved bacon bits and garnish with sage leaves.

Healthy Variation:

• Skip the bacon. Saute the leeks in a little extra virgin olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of your pot) before proceeding with rest of recipe.
• Replace the heavy cream with evaporated milk.

You can really have fun with this recipe. Just play around with veggie combinations and spices to suite your tastes. You can give this a Latin twist by adding cumin instead of ginger and sage, and then top with roasted pumpkin seeds. You can use sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes and add cinnamon and nutmeg along with the ginger and skip the sage. Curry would be another good flavor for this type of root vegetable puree. Like I said… have fun! Play with your food

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn