Hearty autumn and winter soup with pumpkin, white beans, ham, tomato and chard.
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Years ago, my doctor advised me to “eat colorful foods.” “When you look at the food on your plate, there should be a lot of color and variety,” he explained.
Here’s a warming fall and winter stew that’s so colorful it makes me smile just looking at it. Just take your basic white bean and ham soup and spice it up with tomatoes, fresh squash and chard.
My dad stopped by to try some for lunch and went home with half the batch (I didn’t let him take it all). Enjoy!
White bean soup with ham, pumpkin and chard
This recipe calls for a sugar squash (the kind you use to make cakes). You can simply substitute the same amount of butternut squash or almost any winter squash.
ingredients
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2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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2 cups yellow onionchopped
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3 bay leaves
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2 stems celerychopped
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4 cloves garlicpeeled and chopped
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1 (2 pounds) whole sugar squashhalved, seeds hollowed out, pulp peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (resulting in 3 1/2 cups or 1 pound chunk)
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1/2 lb Ham Hock
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8th cups chicken broth
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1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoesdrained OR 1 large fresh, ripe tomato, peeled and chopped
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6 sprigs of thyme, tied with string 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
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2 (15-ounce) cans Cannellini white beansrinsed and drained or homemade
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4 big chard leaves (can substitute kale), midrib removed, leaves roughly chopped
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Fresh ground black pepper, taste
method
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Sauté onions, bay leaves, celery, garlic:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (5 to 6 liters) over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bay leaves and cook until slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chopped celery, sauté another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute.
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Add pumpkin, ham shank, broth, tomatoes and thyme:
Add the chopped pumpkin and ham shank to the pot. Add chicken broth, tomatoes and thyme. Increase the heat to bring them to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, uncovered. Simmer for an hour and a half.
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Remove ham leg, add white beans and Swiss chard:
Remove the ham shank from the stockpot and place on a plate to cool sufficiently. Add the white beans and cook for 15 minutes. Add the chopped chard, simmer until the chard wilts, a few minutes more.
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Remove the ham from the bone, chop it and add it back to the soup:
Remove the meat from the ham, chop it and put it back in the pot. Add 1 to 2 cups of water to the soup to thin to taste. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Add freshly ground black pepper and adjust spices to taste.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 527 | calories |
| 14g | Fat |
| 67g | carbohydrates |
| 35g | protein |
