ms.peachy
10-29-2005, 01:35 PM
Dead delicious, velvety and creamy yet vegan, suitable even for Cosmo :p
I made this the other day and I was kind of making it up as I went along, so I hope I don't forget any steps or ingredients now :o
What you need:
1 butternut squash, roasted (see more infor on this below)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion
2-3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1-2 carrots (depending on size)
veg broth cube
a thumb-sized bit of ginger, grated (or use powder, @1/2 tsp but fresh is better)
1 tsp paprika
pinch of saffron (5-6 strands)
tabasco (or other peppery sauce)
1 tbsp cider (or other) vinegar
salt
Roasting the squash:
Heat oven to 350F/180C. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and gooey bits. (If you like, separate and save the seeds to roast as well - the toasted seeds make a great garnish for the soup.) Rub the cut sides lightly with olive oil and place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Put into oven and leave for @40 mins. Once cooked and cooled, it will be easy to scoop the softened squash out of its shell.
(I actually did the roasting the day before making the soup, to make efficient use of time and energy - I was cooking something in the oven for dinner anyway, and then that meant the squash was cool when I went to cut it into chunks for the soup the next day.)
Making the soup:
Gently heat the oil in a suitable pot, and then soften diced onions, celery and garlic over low heat. Low heat is important - don't try to rush this! Put them all in, stir and cover, and just let them slowly soften there, stirring oly occasionally. This should probably take about 10 minutes.
Once softened, add in the diced carrot, stir, put the top back on and let cook further for 1 or 2 minutes.
Next, add the ginger, paprika and saffron. Stir.
Raise the heat to medium high and add 5 cups/1200 ml water. Add veggie broth cube and chunks of butternut squash. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for about 25 minutes.
Once simmered, add in about 10 drops of the tabasco sauce and the vinegar. Be careful not to add too much of either, because the thing is, you don't actually want to taste either of them in the finished product - they are used to sort of 'undercut' the sweetness of the squash. Without them, the soup might be a bit to cloying and lack a real depth of flavour. So you definitely want them in there, but you don't want to notice them, if that makes sense.
Next you need to blend it to a smooth puree. Make sure it is really, really smooth - no chunks!
Reheat and add salt to taste.
For serving, if you want to fancy it up a little, you can drizzle a few drops of a nice oil on the top. I used toasted sesame oil and it was a brilliant flavour combination, plus the darker oil looked really nice in contrast with the orangey soup. Also, if you've toasted the seeds from the squash, or if you have some sesame seeds on hand, they work really well too sprinkled on top.
Eat with a nice thick crusty bread and maybe a side salad.
A note about saffron: if you know anything about saffron, you know it's waaay expensive. But, you may also know that it's flavour is like nothing else. I used it because I had some in the cabinet, but you don't neccessarily need to go out and buy it for this. You can still make a very nice soup without it. But, if you do have some or feel like splurging, it really does add an extra note all its own.
Viola.
I made this the other day and I was kind of making it up as I went along, so I hope I don't forget any steps or ingredients now :o
What you need:
1 butternut squash, roasted (see more infor on this below)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion
2-3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1-2 carrots (depending on size)
veg broth cube
a thumb-sized bit of ginger, grated (or use powder, @1/2 tsp but fresh is better)
1 tsp paprika
pinch of saffron (5-6 strands)
tabasco (or other peppery sauce)
1 tbsp cider (or other) vinegar
salt
Roasting the squash:
Heat oven to 350F/180C. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and gooey bits. (If you like, separate and save the seeds to roast as well - the toasted seeds make a great garnish for the soup.) Rub the cut sides lightly with olive oil and place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Put into oven and leave for @40 mins. Once cooked and cooled, it will be easy to scoop the softened squash out of its shell.
(I actually did the roasting the day before making the soup, to make efficient use of time and energy - I was cooking something in the oven for dinner anyway, and then that meant the squash was cool when I went to cut it into chunks for the soup the next day.)
Making the soup:
Gently heat the oil in a suitable pot, and then soften diced onions, celery and garlic over low heat. Low heat is important - don't try to rush this! Put them all in, stir and cover, and just let them slowly soften there, stirring oly occasionally. This should probably take about 10 minutes.
Once softened, add in the diced carrot, stir, put the top back on and let cook further for 1 or 2 minutes.
Next, add the ginger, paprika and saffron. Stir.
Raise the heat to medium high and add 5 cups/1200 ml water. Add veggie broth cube and chunks of butternut squash. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for about 25 minutes.
Once simmered, add in about 10 drops of the tabasco sauce and the vinegar. Be careful not to add too much of either, because the thing is, you don't actually want to taste either of them in the finished product - they are used to sort of 'undercut' the sweetness of the squash. Without them, the soup might be a bit to cloying and lack a real depth of flavour. So you definitely want them in there, but you don't want to notice them, if that makes sense.
Next you need to blend it to a smooth puree. Make sure it is really, really smooth - no chunks!
Reheat and add salt to taste.
For serving, if you want to fancy it up a little, you can drizzle a few drops of a nice oil on the top. I used toasted sesame oil and it was a brilliant flavour combination, plus the darker oil looked really nice in contrast with the orangey soup. Also, if you've toasted the seeds from the squash, or if you have some sesame seeds on hand, they work really well too sprinkled on top.
Eat with a nice thick crusty bread and maybe a side salad.
A note about saffron: if you know anything about saffron, you know it's waaay expensive. But, you may also know that it's flavour is like nothing else. I used it because I had some in the cabinet, but you don't neccessarily need to go out and buy it for this. You can still make a very nice soup without it. But, if you do have some or feel like splurging, it really does add an extra note all its own.
Viola.