Saturday, January 26, 2008

Savory Squash Soup

It's a milder cold day here in Iowa, up to 20F. Compared to the last few days, that's downright balmy! The guys are out deer hunting, Warren Miller film marathon is on the TV in the kitchen, new powdery snowfall all over the ground, and squash soup is simmering on the stovetop . . . a perfect Saturday so far!

ENJOY!


Recipe makes about 2 quarts
3 ¾ lbs. butternut squash
1 ¾ lbs. acorn squash
6 TBSP unsalted butter
1 (4 ounce) white onion, finely diced
½ t kosher salt
1/8 t fresh ground white pepper
¼ t ground nutmeg
¼ t ground ginger
¼ t ground cardamom
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, heated
½ cup crème fraiche
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 cup brown sugar (opt)

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis also a good garnish!
2 red bell peppers
¼ cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. cut each squash in half and discard seeds
3. brush cut sides with 2 T of the melted butter, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg
4. arrange the squash cut side down in a roasting pan and bake until tender, approx. 1 hour
5. allow to cool until squash can be safely handled, then scoop out insides of squash
6. puree the flesh in a food processor, reserve. This should be about 4 cups pureed squash.
7. in medium stockpot, melt remaining 4 T butter, sauté onion, don’t allow it to brown.
8. add squash and cook over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. Don’t allow to bubble up.
9. Season with salt/pepper/ginger/cardamom
10. pour in stock and bring to a boil, over low heat, stirring often.
11. cook about 20 minutes
12. add the cream fraiche and rosemary sprig, warm through, remove rosemary and adjust seasonings to taste.
13. roast the pepper over flame on stove, cool and remove skins.
14. remove core and seeds and chop coarsely.
15. in food processor, puree the peppers, adding chicken stock until thick sauce consistency is attained.
16. season with salt and pepper, strain and pour into plastic squeeze bottle, serve soup with swirls of the roasted red pepper coulis.

OPTIONAL: I added ¼ cup brown sugar to the soup. We also garnished our soup with about ¼ cup crumbled cooked spicy Italian sausage. The next night, we added dollops of pesto to the soup. We also tried it with Harissa sauce/honey mixture drizzled into each bowl instead of making the red pepper coulis. ENJOY!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I did a squash soup post today too!