Butternut Squash Soup With Roasted Red Pepper Purée Food

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER PURéE

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add squash and 5 1/2 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until squash is soft, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly.
• Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return puree to pot. Add 1 teaspoon thyme and orange peel. Thin soup with more broth if desired. Simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and chill. Rewarm before serving, thinning with more broth if desired.)
• Ladle soup into bowls. Swirl 1 tablespoon Roasted Red Pepper Puree into soup in each bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons thyme and serve.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• For the soup:
• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and cinnamon stick and saute until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add the chicken stock and the coriander, if using, and bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in the squash until smooth, then simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.
• Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with stock or water when reheating.)
• Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Add the half-and-half, if using. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm until service.
• To serve:
• Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Garnish evenly, with the cheese and pumpkin seeds, if desired.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler. Halve lengthwise, discard the seeds, then cut into 1-inch dice. Place in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter ceases to foam and has turned a light brown, pull the pan off the heat and immediately add the sage, sugar, vinegar (stand back so as not to get splattered), molasses and toasted spice rub. Mix well and let simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors.
• Pour the vinegar mixture over the squash and toss well, then transfer to a heavy rimmed baking sheet or baking dish large enough to hold the squash in a single layer. Place in the oven and roast, tossing at least once, until very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle but still warm, so the liquids are runny.
• Working in batches, if necessary, transfer the warm squash and all the cooking liquids to a food processor and process until smooth. Use immediately, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
• Serving suggestions: Serve the puree on its own as a side dish for roast chicken, turkey, or pork; stir into polenta just before the end of cooking; use as a stuffing for ravioli; make into a soup; or use to flavor pastina. Or omit the sage, season with ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg to taste, and use as a substitute for canned pumpkin in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.
• Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel turns light brown, work quickly. Turn on the exhaust fan, add the red pepper flakes, and toss, toss, toss, always under the fan. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool.
• Put mixture into a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• To make roasted winter squash: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat butter over medium-high heat in an ovenproof saute pan; add diced squash, salt and pepper. When squash begins to brown, place pan in oven. Roast for 15 minutes or until medium-brown on all sides. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Puree in food processor, or mash with potato masher or ricer. Measure 1 1/2 cups squash; reserve.
• To make soup: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot and cinnamon stick; saute until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the broth and the coriander; bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in reserved squash until smooth; simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.
• Puree the soup using an immersion blender or in a blender until smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with broth or water when reheating.)
• Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Add the half-and-half. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Top each serving with pumpkin seeds and toasted bread crumbs.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROASTED RED PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven broiler.
• Line a small roasting pan or baking sheet with foil. Place pepper halves in pan, cut side down, and place on oven shelf closest to broiler.
• Broil until pepper skins are completely black, about 8 minutes.
• Remove from oven, wrap peppers in foil, and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
• Remove foil and peel off the blackened skins. Slice peppers into 1/2-inch strips and set aside.
• Combine squash, onion, apples and broth in heavy 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
• Partially cover saucepan, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add the pepper slices and cook for 5 minutes longer.
• Transfer soup to food processor or blender and process until smooth. Return to saucepan, add seasonings and reheat before serving.

PUREED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer., Stir in squash, stock, sage, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 10-15 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Process in a blender until smooth. Sprinkle servings with pepper flakes.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROASTED PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Cut peppers in half; remove seeds. Broil peppers 4 in. from the heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes. Immediately place peppers in a small bowl; cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Peel off and discard charred skin. Chop peppers., In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, saute onion in oil for 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add squash; cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the stock, curry powder, salt, cinnamon, pepper and red peppers. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until squash is tender. , Cool slightly. In a blender, process 7 cups soup in batches until smooth. Return all to pan and heat through. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

ROASTED RED PEPPER PURéE

Steps:

• Puree all ingredients in processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

WOLFGANG PUCK'S SAVORY SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut each squash in half and discard seeds.
• Brush cut sides with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Arrange the squash cut side down in a roasting pan and bake until tender, approximately 1 hour.
• Allow to cool until squash can be safely handled, then scoop out insides of squash.
• Puree the flesh in a food processor, reserve.
• This should produce about 4 cups of pureed squash.
• In a medium stockpot, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter.
• Over low heat, saute the onion, do not allow it to brown.
• Add pureed squash and cook over very low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.
• Do not allow it to bubble up.
• Season with salt, pepper, ginger and cardamom.
• Pour in stock and bring to a boil, over low heat, stirring often.
• Cook about 20 minutes.
• Add the Cream Fraiche and rosemary spring.
• Warm through, remove rosemary and adjust seasonings to taste.
• Roast the peppers over flame on stove or under broiler until skin blackens evenly.
• Allow to cool, peel off black skin, remove core and seeds; chop coarsely.
• In blender or food processor, puree the peppers, adding chicken broth until thick sauce consistency is attained.
• Season with salt and pepper, strain, and pour into plastic squeeze bottle.
• Serve the soup with swirls of the roasted red pepper coulis.