When the Farmers Hand You Winter Squash...

The Market Inspiration

When shopping at the Farmer's Market, you are beholden to what fruits and vegetables happen to be in-season at that time. This can be challenging when what is available doesn't happen to match up to your tastes. For my family, squash has never been a huge hit, so when winter rolls around and the market stalls start to fill up with a myriad of different squash-y options, I have to get creative with how I use them. Luckily, squash is very affordable and has an excellent shelf life.

Nothing warms you up on a cold winter's day like a delicious hot soup. For this particular soup I've used two different kinds of squash, Cream Pie Pumpkin and Butternut Squash, though you could use any variety of winter squash. In order to spruce up the squash for my non-squash loving family, I've used beef broth to give a depth and richness of flavor, also blending the soup to make it thick and creamy. Most important of all, I served the soup in toasted, buttery sourdough bread bowls.

The Recipe

1 pie pumpkin  

1 butternut squash

1 medium onion, diced

1 bunch carrots, peeled and diced
1 fennel bulb, diced (optional)

5 cloves garlic minced

1 Qt. Beef Broth

4/5 sage leaves chopped (you could use thyme, rosemary, etc. or a combination of herbs) 

3 Tbs.+ Milk/Cream for a richer finished product. 

Salt and pepper

Sourdough bread bowls

Tools: Immersion hand blender (You can use a traditional stand blender, but you would need to cool the soup mix down more before you can blend it.)

For the Squash: Remove seeds and inner pulp. Leave skin on and cut the squash into long strips. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast skin side up in the oven @ 400° for 30-40 minutes until squash is tender. Cool to touch and remove outer skin. 

In a stock pot melt 3 Tbs of butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and fennel. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften 5-7 minutes. Add the roasted squash, garlic, sage, and season with salt and pepper. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Add stock and simmer soup for 20-30 minutes. 

Take soup off of the heat. Purée the soup mix until smooth. Add cream. Blend a second time. Return to heat 5-7 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve in toasted sourdough bread bowls.

The Pairing

Another way to warm up a cold night, in addition to delicious soup in a bread bowl, is with the bouncing energy of a classic musical like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. This is one of my favorite movies because of the enjoyable music, humorous dialogue and classic Hollywood-style sets. They dance with axes, what could be better than that? -Z