butternut squash soup with ham and dumplings

despite the raging fires surrounding us along with the ash and eery yellow/orange sky i attempted to make a cozy fall dish for a not so cozy day. the soup was tasty, the ham was hearty and the dumplings were cute and tasty. this recipe is a twist on a butternut squash and dumpling soup from epicurious.com. i think the original would have produced a watery bland soup so i had to fix it up a bit and it came out beautiful. i served it with steamed green beans tossed with honey, balsamic vinegar and the last of the heairloom tomatoes and cold yummy Fat Tire beer.

enjoy!



1 lg organic butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
3 garlic clvs, minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp ground ginger
generous pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 1/2 cups organic veggie or chicken broth
1 lg can organic diced tomatoes, drained
1 perservative and nitrate free ham steak, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup organic half and half
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbl half and half
half a beaten egg
2 tbl finely chopped green onions


saute cubed squash with onion and garlic about 10 min. on med heat. add spices along with salt and pepper. pour in chicken or veggie broth. bring to boil and simmer until tender about 20-25 min.
puree squash mixture in batches in blender.

return squash puree back to sauce pan and add ham and tomatoes. bring to low boil then reduce heat. add in cheese and half and half and more salt or pepper if needed.

while soup in on low heat or bare simmer sift flour, cornmeal and salt together. cut in butter until looks like coarse meal. combine milk, egg and green onion...add to flour mixture.

drop dumplings by tblsp full into soup. keep soup at a low simmer. cook until dumplings are firm about 15 min or so.