Ontario Butternut Squash Soup

"Soup is the song of the hearth... and the home." Louis P. De Gouy

 

 

Soup photographer: Harry Gils, Prop Stylist: Dana Gils,

Food Stylist: Sarah Visheau (me!)

Well, I hope you all had a good weekend, I did! My sweetie Kevin and I really enjoyed our fish and chip dinner Friday night. The chippy had mushy peas, can you believe it? I love mushy peas!! Unfortunately Mary has a cold and her Birthday celebration has been postponed until Mary's sister Cathy gets back from Australia. Lucky girl! Cathy and I made that trip 7 years ago (wow, does time ever fly!). We lived in Melbourne for a year and both served at Cathy's uncles' restaurant. We had fun, alright! The food in Australia was amazing! At the time, pumpkin was 'in'! Pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin tempura, pumpkin pizza... You name it, the Aussies put pumpkin in it (by the way, the pumpkin was butternut squash...)! While waitressing, the owners found out that I was a Chef back home. They asked me to come up with a few ideas for their winter dessert menu. No problem! I made stuffed, baked apples with creme fraiche,  pears poached in red wine with chocolate ganache and pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger cookie crust. Well, to my surprise, the Aussies were freaked out by my pumpkin dessert! They'd never had a sweet pumpkin dish before, but loved it! Sure enough, Cathy's uncle decided to put it on the menu and it certainly was met with mixed reactions!! Of the brave who tried it, they did like really it, but a lot of people passed. Oh well! So, thinking of the Aussies this weekend, I was inspired to make Mary pumpkin soup for her Birthday present! It is her favourite after all and it's technically not summer yet, so I figured I could get away with making such a wintry treat! Mar, I hope my soup helps you get over your cold!

Simple and Tasty Recipe:

Ontario Butternut Squash Soup

(this big batch makes about 4 litres)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

2 onion, rough chop

3 cloves of garlic, rough chop

2-3 sprig of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, rough chop

2 sweet potatoes, peeled, rough chop

2 L fresh chicken, turkey or veg. stock (or water)

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1/2-1 cup cream (10, 18 or 35%,) or milk

*dollop of butter (optional)

..put the olive oil and butter into a large pot on medium low heat, add onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper

.stir occasionally and allow to sweat (fry on low temp. without colouring), for about 10 mins or until the veg are soft (try not to rush this step!)

.stir in the squash and sweet potatoes and cook for about mins

.pour in the stock, turn up to high and bring to a boil

.once boiling, turn down to medium and simmer until squash is soft, about 20 minutes

.remove the thyme stock (the leaf should have fallen off into the soup by now, if not picked them off and put back into the soup), and the bay leaf

.with a hand held mixer, or blender or food processor, puree the soup until desired consistency

.stir in the cream or milk (if too thick, add a bit more) and the butter, adjust seasoning, enjoy!

This soup is a great one to freeze! Garnish it with some buttery croutons, goat cheese, toasted walnuts or chopped fresh chives and parsley. Not only eaten as a soup, you could also use this as a pasta sauce! That's right! Fry up some onions, garlic, sausage and sage; add some soup and pasta (penne would be good!). Yum! You better hurry up and make it though, summer is almost upon us and squash and sweet potatoes will be officially out of season! Vite, vite!!

p.s. Dana absolutely loved my recipes for roasted chicken with roasted vegetables and chicken gravy! Try them out for yourself!