Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup

Do look for a kabocha squash. I find that they are usually sweeter than butternut squash but if you can't find one at your market a butternut squash will do. I found this recipe, which called for a butternut squash, at Serious Eats and made only a few changes. Roasting the squash makes for a better soup than just steaming it.

1 kabocha squash, about 2 1/2 lbs
2 or 3 carrots
extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
4 cups low salt chicken broth
2 tsp herbes de Provence
1 tsp piment d'Espelette
whole milk
Slice the squash, pole to pole, and seed it. Next cut each half in 5 or 6 slices, coat with olive oil, and put the slices on a sheet pan. Peel the carrots, cut them into chunks, coat with olive oil, and place on the sheet pan with the squash. Put the squash and carrots in a 425º F. oven and roast until tender, about 50 minutes. Turn the vegetables over every 15 minutes.
Slice the onion and the garlic thinly. Melt the butter in a pan that will hold the completed soup, and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the onion has browned. If the squash has cooked and the carrots are still hard, add some of the broth to the soup pot and toss in the carrots and simmer until the carrots have softened. When the squash is cooked remove it from the oven and cut off the peel. Add the squash to the soup pot, along with the carrots if they are not yet in the pot. Add the broth and the herbes de Provence and the piment d'Espelette. Bring the pot to a simmer and simmer for a few minutes. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or use a standard blender. Thin with milk if the soup is thicker than you would like.