Hearty Summer Squash Soup. It's what's for lunch.

Generally, lunch is whatever is leftover in the fridge. We were out of town last week on a family emergency, so I had a bunch of yellow summer squash and yellow crookneck squash a friend had given to me. They were starting to look wilted. Our weather has turned chilly and the trees are turning, so I'm thinking fall. The squash looked like the makings for some great soup.

My experiments aren't always hits, so I was thrilled when Jim went back for seconds.

I started with my 4 quart stainless pan and sautéed diced onions and diced squash in several tablespoons of butter.

I love the yellow squash, as it's flesh is naturally very buttery, but zucchini would work well, too.

Summer Squash Soup

1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced (I used a red one)
4 TBSP butter

2 medium yellow summer squash plus 4 small yellow crook-neck squash (could be any summer squash). Diced into bite-sized pieces, it made about 5-6 cups of raw diced squash.

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 Tbsp dried parsley or 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp Fine Herbs (any favorite herb mix. I love Penzeys spices - http://www.penzeys.com)
2 tsp sea salt (I use French grey sea salt from Penzeys)
Fresh ground pepper

10 pieces of pepperoni, diced

3 crisp cooked thick bacon slices, diced

1/2 - 1 cup grated cheese (Mexican blend or sharp white cheddar or parmesan would be amazing)

1 quart (32 oz) chicken broth

Melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add first four ingredients and sauté until onion is translucent. Add diced squash and 1 cup of broth. Stir together, then cover and cook on low until squash is tender enough to mash with a potato masher. Leave chunky. Add chopped spinach, spices and rest of broth. Stir, then simmer until spinach is cooked. Add diced pepperoni and cooked, diced bacon. Stir together. At last minute, add grated cheese and stir until melted. Serve.

Optional garnish with a dab of sour cream and bacon bits or more grated cheese. Makes 5-6 servings.