Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is velvety smooth and wonderfully seasoned. The golden vegetables give it a beautiful color. The spice mix gives the soup the slight kick to avoid being too sweet. Butternut Squash is fabulous to eat all year round but there is something about eating produce in its harvest season that makes the taste especially good. Butternut Squash has a similar taste to sweet potatoes with less calories and carbs and can be substituted in recipes. I have been using butternut squash in other recipes—its flavor enhances all these dishes! Recipe is below.

Foodie Lit

Review & Recipe

In mixing fiction and fact in Expulsion, Sherry Ostroff gives us the breadth and the details of the Spanish Inquisition, the fear, the betrayals, the mercilessness and the ruthlessness of the agents of the Catholic Church and the monarchy. She also gives us the beauty and happiness of the lives Jews had enjoyed in Spain for more than 1,000 years.

The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 had its roots in the defeat of the Moors and the total Christianization of Spain and its ripples lasted 500 years. Sherry’s focus on the months before the expulsion reveal the tension, the disruption, the fear and the horror. You will be drawn into the fabric of history of this era, fraught with danger, impossible decisions and heartbreak.

Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6

Soup

1 butternut squash

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 radishes, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, deseeded, fiber cut out and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tart red apple, unpeeled, cored and chopped

4 cups stock

Spice Mix

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon curry

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Peel butternut squash. Take seeds out (reserve and toast for later snacking!) and cube. Place cubes on oven proof parchment lined sheet. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes or until butternut squash is slightly toasted and fork tender. Remove from oven.
While butternut squash is baking, sauté onion for 4-5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add celery, radishes and red bell pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add carrots and apple.
Mix spices together. Add to vegetables and stir until all are coated.
Add stock. Stir. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer for 40-50 minutes until vegetables are tender.
Blend together with an immerser or puree in a blender until velvety smooth, being careful with hot liquid. Taste and correct seasoning.

Exandthetable suggestions

Other veggies: select other veggies that are red, yellow or orange, such as turnips, pumpkin, buttercup or acorn squash, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, yellow potatoes or rutabaga.

Stock: Use vegan stock to keep vegan. Use chicken stock or bone broth for a heartier soup.

Make creamier: Add 1/2 cup dairy or almond milk to make creamer. Try heavy cream if you want a gourmet experience!

Butternut Squash substitutes: Sweet potatoes, acorn or buttercup squash or fresh pumpkin

#Soup