I came up with the soup idea because it had been quite cold in California. In addition to trying to create more vegetable to my diet in different forms. This recipe comes from good old Martha Stewart who is known for her creativity, cooking, baking, to even how to host a dinner.
Apple-Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 6
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 4 red or golden apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, plus 1 apple, finely diced and tossed in lemon juice, for garnish (optional)
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 1/2 cups water, plus more if needed
- 1 jalapeno chile, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)
- Sour cream, for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add squash, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add apples, salt, cumin, coriander, ginger, cayenne, black pepper, stock, and the water (just enough to cover). Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes.
- Puree in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth, and return to saucepan. Heat over low, thinning with more water if necessary. To serve, ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with diced apples, jalapeno slices, and sour cream if desired.
Read more at Marthastewart.com: Apple-Butternut Squash Soup - Martha Stewart Recipes
First, I had to cut the squash up, deseed it, & cook it. I lined the pan with foil to prevent the sugars sticking onto the pan. Used a cooking sheet which was about 2 inches deep. Chopped it into pieces about 4 inch by 4 inches and filled the pan with 1/2 inch with water. Cooked it for 25 mins and then 35 mins for the thicker pieces. (Tip: You can always use the pre-cut squash, it is a lot easier and quicker).
Changes I made to the recipe:
- green apples instead of golden apples
- 1/2 onion instead of whole
After I heated the soup and all the pieces were nice and soft. I decided to move to the next step. The recipe says you can use blender or food processor. Well, I live in a house with my roommate who is a mom and has every imaginable gadget known to man when it comes to cooking. She had both blender and food processor.
So here comes blunder #1 Check the equipment for how to use it! I started to put all my soup contents into the food processor, all my wonderful pieces, savory juices. I was on cloud nine, until my hand became very warm. Look down to earth and realized all my soup contents were spilling out all over the counter. Yeah, I know, there goes another recipe down the drain. Plus trying to balance the food processor over the pot to not lose any of the contents. That was a fun one.
Victory #1 - I was able to use the blender next. Pour all my contents into it plus the juice (what was left of it) and bingo! Now there was beautiful soup. It looked so pretty and smooth. I loved looking at it.
Thoughts of the recipe:
This recipe I felt was very spicy. It has quite a kick to it. I enjoy spicy foods but it tasted as if it shouldn't have been there. Next time I would cut out the cayenne pepper. It does not balance well in the recipe. Instead of complimenting the dish it overwhelmed the flavor.
I did not like the taste of green apples in the recipe either. Maybe if I used the golden apples instead but I did not like the taste of sweet in the soup.
Overall, I would not repeat this recipe instead I would try to find another butternut squash recipe. Because I really enjoy butternut squash but not in this form.
Nutrition:
Butternut Squash is rich in Vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, folate & fiber.
Thanks for tuning in, hope you enjoyed the cooking experience.
