This is a thick soup. It is the kind of soup that you have to be careful with when it is on the stove. It is the kind of soup that makes “plop” sounds as it bubbles. It is the kind of soup that you need to keep a lid on when you reheat it, and then hold that lid in front of you like a shield when you stir it. Otherwise you may end up with a searing hot glob of soupy deliciousness in your eye. If you think you can handle these safety precautions, forge ahead for a very belly-warming experience.
This is a soup I made without a recipe, and so writing it up as a recipe has proven challenging. I tried to measure. But many measurements are just rough approximations and you really just need to add things “to taste”. I always taste as I go along and then add a little bit more of this or that until it tastes how I want it to. If this is a cooking method you are not familiar with, a soup is a great place to start. It is hard to mess a soup up. One of the only ways you can go wrong is if you add too much of something (salt comes to mind) but even in such a case you can add more liquid and dilute the flavour. Just remember, add a little, taste, add a little, taste.
The squash I used are all winter squash, but they are wild hybrids that emerged from our compost this summer. They had all different tastes and textures and looks. They are the franken-children of cross-pollinated Hubbard squash, Kabocha squash, Buttercup squash and more that I can’t think of. So basically you can use any kind of squash for this recipe!! Have fun!
Chipotle Pear and Roasted Squash Soup
6 cups roasted squash
olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
3 stalks celery (or 2 tsp of ground celery seed)
5 large potatoes, washed and diced
1 tbsp of ginger, finely chopped or grated
4 large pears, cored and chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp nutmeg
2 heaping tbsp of chopped garlic (or less for the faint of heart)
2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (or 2 or 3 chopped chipotle peppers and some adobo sauce)
8 cups broth (veggie, chicken, beef, whatever you like)
salt and pepper
I used about 4 medium squashes which came to measure about 6 cups of squash once they were roasted. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Cut your squash in half, scoop out the seeds, peel the skin off, and then dice the flesh into about 1-2″ pieces. Toss all your squash pieces in olive oil and then put them on a baking sheet and roast them until the are soft and golden brown in spots (about 20 min).
While you squash is baking, get out your big soup pot and put it on the oven ring at about medium heat. Glug in some olive oil and then throw in your diced onions, ginger and celery or celery seed (I used celery seed because I didn’t have any celery). Let this saute for a little bit. As the onions start to get glossy, toss in your diced potato (again, 1-2″ squares, roughly, and you don’t need to peel them just cut off any nasty bits and make sure they are clean), and your diced pears (same size as potatoes, and they don’t need to be peeled either, but you can if you don’t like peels). Toss in your cumin and nutmeg and chipotle pepper. Let it all saute together, periodically adding a little splash of your broth to capture all the sugars caramelizing on the bottom of the pan. It should smell very nice.
Once your squash is ready take it out of the oven and add it to your soup pot with the rest of your broth. Give it a good stir all together. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down and let it simmer gently until your potato pieces are soft. Now here is a good time to start tasting. At this point I add salt to the soup. Add a little, taste, add a little, taste, until I like it. I also add garlic. Yes, garlic at the end, more or less. I like garlic a lot, and the less it is cooked the healthier it is. But if you aren’t into strong garlic taste, throw it in in the beginning when you are cooking the onions and ginger. This way the taste will be much milder. While your soup is simmering it is a good time to make your corn bread and throw it in the oven still hot from roasting the squash.
Now whiz the soup up with the hand blender and add a bit more cumin, nutmeg, chipotle pepper and black pepper to taste (or not if it already tastes pretty good to you). If it is too thick, add some more broth, or some cream or milk. If it is too runny, let it simmer down for a little while. This is where you make the soup how you like it.
Apple Butter Cornbread
There are so many ways to make corn bread. This one goes particularly well with this soup because the mild taste of spices from the apple butter are very complimentary to the soup flavours, and using apple butter instead of eggs makes for a very soft texture. If you don’t have any apple butter and don’t want to make it, you can substitute 1/2 c apple sauce or 2 eggs.
1 c flour
3/4 cornmeal
2-3 tbsp sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c apple butter (follow link to recipe)
1 c milk
1/4 c melted butter or vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (it should already be this hot from roasting the squash).
Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix it evenly. I find a whisk works well for this.
Combine the apple butter, milk and melted butter or oil. A whisk also works well for this.
Combine your wet ingredients with your dry, and stir them together. Don’t over-mix it. Think pancake batter.
Melt your 1 tbsp of butter in a cast iron skillet (medium size) by putting it in the oven for a few minutes. Swirl it to coat the sides of the pan. Pour your batter into the hot skillet and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cornbread is a nice golden brown (I like it to be crusty).
Serve hot with your soup and enjoy!
bender
RRTT
DO IT YOURSLEF! 