Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup

The last week of February. This is the hardest week of winter, not because the cold is worst — it isn't, January is colder — but because you can see the end and the end is still far enough away to hurt. March is seven days from now. Mud season is seven days from now. The sap is three weeks from running. You can count the distance in single digits and that makes it worse, not better, because counting means you are measuring hope, and measuring hope is a dangerous business.

I wrote a blog post this week about split pea soup. About the ham hock and the long cooking and the fact that it is not a beautiful food and how beauty is overrated in February. I wrote about my mother making it every February of my childhood and how the smell of it on the stove is a form of home that has nothing to do with the building you are in. Several people wrote back to say they had the same experience with their mothers' split pea soup. One man wrote from New Hampshire to say he had tried to make it and used the wrong kind of peas and it turned out wrong and could I advise. I advised. I told him yellow peas cook faster than green but both work; the ham hock is not negotiable; low heat is patience, not accident.

Helen has started her spring seed catalogs. She has been ordering seeds from the same company in Vermont since 1985, and the annual arrival of the catalog is a signal as reliable as the first robin: spring is being planned somewhere, which means spring is coming. She circles what she wants in pencil. I look over her shoulder without comment. She tells me what she is planting. I say where would you like the new beds. She says I thought you might ask that. I say I will build whatever you need. She says she knows I will. This is what forty years of marriage looks like: the conversation that has been the same for decades and is not boring for a single day of it.

Frost is sleeping longer in the mornings. He is eight and a half. A border collie at eight and a half is still in his prime, still capable of chasing deer that he will not catch, still alert to every sound in the sugarhouse. But the mornings are slower. The getting-up takes a moment. I know the feeling. I know the feeling very well.

I said in that post that beauty is overrated in February, and I meant it — what matters is warmth, and weight, and the smell of something honest on the stove. When I reached for a pot this week, it was this one: Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup, which has that same low-heat patience I was writing about, the same willingness to take its time and become something better than the sum of its parts. Helen looked up from her seed catalog when it started to smell right, and that is all the review any soup needs.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min | Total Time: 1 hr 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (optional, for serving)
Sour cream or plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Brown the pork. Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork cubes in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 3–4 minutes until browned. Turn and brown on the other side. Work in batches if needed. Transfer browned pork to a plate and set aside.
Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and poblano pepper to the same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Bloom the spices. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
Build the soup. Return the browned pork to the pot. Add the diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
Simmer low and slow. Cover and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes, until the pork is tender.
Add squash and beans. Stir in the butternut squash and black beans. Re-cover and continue simmering for 20–25 minutes, until the squash is fork-tender.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup — The Patience of a Long-Cooked Pot