Vegetable-Ham Bisque, Perfect for Fall!

      Ever since I purchased this pumpkin soup tureen, I have been waiting for the moment that I would be able to put my Vegetable-Ham Bisque in it.  The color of the soup is perfect for this Autumn themed pumpkin tureen.  It rained really hard on Sunday, and this week the weather is only getting into the 80's!  The mornings and the nights are actually a little brisk! Plus, don't forget, I purchased these beautiful squash!

So, soup had to be made.  (Well actually, I still haven't brought myself to be able to cut the carousel squash.  They are so beautiful! But, see the butternut squash on the right in the back?  I used it for the soup. (If Walmart is all out, here is a similar tureen. And, I may have to get these little covered soup bowls for myself! (Probably two sets.  Maybe three. Wouldn't they be cute sitting on the table as the opening soup course?)  And, oh my goodness! Lindsey would love this set of pumpkin serving dishes! 

      I digress, let's make the soup to fill the dishes, shall we?  Start with the vegetables.  I peel everything for this dish because I don't want any random peels in the final product.  I use a potato peeler to peel even the squash!  It works really well.  Then you cut it all into chunks and put it in a large pot...

I usually make this soup when I have a left over ham bone. This time I didn't have one, so I bought a couple of ham hocks for about $4.00.

Oops! I almost forgot the onions! Also add the seasonings and then cover the entire thing with water and put on to simmer until everything is tender. This takes about 1/2 hour to 45 min. Your house will smell glorious!

When everything is tender, remove the ham bone and set aside. Puree everything with an immersion blender. Cut the ham bits from the bone and add back to the pot with 2 T. butter. Stir together.

Finally, you add cream to the mixture and simmer back to a serving temperature.

Isn't it beautiful in the tureen? This is only part of the soup. It makes a lot!

     Vegetable-Ham Bisque
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 butternut squash or other similar squash, peeled and chunked
1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
1 meaty ham bone
4 cloves of garlic
1 T. parsley
3 T. salt
1 T. ground turmeric
1 T. ground pepper
2 T. butter
1 c. heavy cream (you can use milk or half and half.)
    Put all of the vegetables and the ham bone into a large pot (6-8 quart), as well as the spices and cover with water. (You can also use chicken broth.) Put on the lid and simmer for about 45 min. until everything is soft and the ham is falling off of the bone.  Remove the bone and reserve.  Puree everything in the pot with an immersion blender or use a food processor and return to the pot.  Trust me, the immersion blender is easier.  Cut away any bits of meat from the ham bone and add them back to the pot.  Taste at this point and see if you need to add any more seasoning for your taste.  Add the butter and the cream and stir and heat all together!  This makes so much soup, I was able to freeze some and still had plenty leftover for a meal tomorrow.

So much fun and fancy to use my tureen!

Goes great with crackers and I was thinking, even a grilled cheese sandwich.

I definitely need those little pumpkin bowls!

    Oh! And these!