Hot Pepper Soup Black Eyed Pea Soup

On a chilly, rainy day this is
comfort food at it's finest.
It's got butternut squash,
sweet potato and spinach in it.
Making a rich ham hock stock
and then chilling it is an easy way
to remove the fat, and save the flavor.

Ingredients:
1 lg. smoked ham hock
1 lb pork butt, trimmed of fat and cut to 1 inch cubes
2 cups cooked black eyed peas
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 large onion, diced
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into rings
1 fresh Scotch Bonnet chile, seeded and minced
1 16 oz can chopped tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
pinch each of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
3/4 lb butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 lb fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste


Place the ham hock and pork butt in 2 qts water and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
Drain off the liquid and reserve in the refrigerator

Pick the meat off the ham hock, and discard the fat, skin, and bone.

Sauté the onion and leeks in 1 Tbs. olive oil until soft.

Add the pork cubes and brown well.

Add the chile pepper and garlic, cook 1 minute.

Add the tomato products and herbs and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Remove the fat from the top of the chilled ham hock stock and discard.

Add the meat from the hock and it's liquid, the squash, and the sweet potatoes to the pot and simmer, stirring occasionally until tender, about 25 minutes.

Stir in the black eyed peas and the spinach.
Cook until heated through.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.