Any Kine Squash Soup
SKU:
I love flexible, low-stress recipes. This warm embrace of a soup works with your choice of red kuri squash, kabocha, or butternut squash.
The original WaPo recipe specifies red kuri squash. Great, but not so easy to find consistently.
Adapted from the Washington Post.
PSA: Uses an immersion blender.
The original WaPo recipe specifies red kuri squash. Great, but not so easy to find consistently.
Adapted from the Washington Post.
PSA: Uses an immersion blender.
Ingredients
|
Pick one, (in my preferred order):
1 red kuri squash OR 1 kabocha OR 1 butternut squash OR 1 package of peeled, pre-cut butternut squash (20 ounces) 1 red onion, chopped 1 large Honeycrisp apple, Macintosh is OK too 3 cups of non-fat milk, 1%, 2% and whole milk are OK too 3 cups of water OR 3 cups of chicken broth 1 package of kuri chestnuts (4.5 ounces), chopped |
About 1T of fresh or powdered ginger to start
About 2t of salt, or to taste Pepper to taste Optional Garnish, One or All of Them Crème fraiche, sour cream, or plain yogurt Chopped kuri Roasted pistachios Very thinly sliced apple slivers Very, very thinly sliced matchstick fresh ginger |
What To Do
How the soup starts
If using red kuri squash or kabocha
Cut out the stem. Cut and seed into large bite-sized pieces. Precision is not required, just chop them into pieces. For red kuri and kabocha, you do not have to peel the skin off.
If using a butternut squash
Cut out the stem. Cut and seed into large bite-sized pieces, same as above. In this case, you MUST to peel the skin off.
Slice the red onion into chunks. Don't worry about precision because it will get all blended at the end.
Peel, core and cut the apple into chunks. Again, precision not required.
Dump squash, onion, and apple into a Dutch oven. Add water/chicken broth, milk, and non-garnish ginger. Add pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook until the squash is very tender. The squash should almost split apart when poked with a chopstick.
It will look absolutely awful, but have faith in the blending process. Add salt and more ginger to taste. If you used any chicken broth, be very cautious on adding salt. Add the entire package of kuri once the squash is soft and cooked.
Use the immersion blender to make a smooth, thick soup. It takes me about 10 minutes, mostly to make sure you blend the kuri smoothly, but is well worth it. Season one last time to taste with salt, pepper, and a bit more ginger if you like a zing-ey note.
Add whatever mix-ins you want and start eating.
Cut out the stem. Cut and seed into large bite-sized pieces. Precision is not required, just chop them into pieces. For red kuri and kabocha, you do not have to peel the skin off.
If using a butternut squash
Cut out the stem. Cut and seed into large bite-sized pieces, same as above. In this case, you MUST to peel the skin off.
Slice the red onion into chunks. Don't worry about precision because it will get all blended at the end.
Peel, core and cut the apple into chunks. Again, precision not required.
Dump squash, onion, and apple into a Dutch oven. Add water/chicken broth, milk, and non-garnish ginger. Add pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook until the squash is very tender. The squash should almost split apart when poked with a chopstick.
It will look absolutely awful, but have faith in the blending process. Add salt and more ginger to taste. If you used any chicken broth, be very cautious on adding salt. Add the entire package of kuri once the squash is soft and cooked.
Use the immersion blender to make a smooth, thick soup. It takes me about 10 minutes, mostly to make sure you blend the kuri smoothly, but is well worth it. Season one last time to taste with salt, pepper, and a bit more ginger if you like a zing-ey note.
Add whatever mix-ins you want and start eating.
Notes and Talking Story
- This is a dump-it-all in one pot at once. All you have to do is make sure the pot doesn’t boil over.
- The color of the soup varies pretty significantly depending the squash.
- Red kuri squash makes the most aesthetically pleasing soup color because the skin and meat are both bright orange. It also also has the most chestnut flavor (hence the name). I've found red kuri squash hit-and-miss at Whole Foods.
- Kabocha is the next closest in terms of flavor and sweetness to red kuri squash. The soup color will be the darkest, simply because kabocha skin is green. Kabocha is easily found in most grocery stores
- Butternut squash will be the yellowest of the bunch and the most neutral in flavor. Butternut squash is everywhere.
- Kuri is the Japanese word for chestnuts, and packages of roasted, shelled kuri can be found in most Asian grocery stores. In the fall and winter (even in Hawaii!) there are fresh kuri stands outside many Asian grocery stores. These are the best for snacking!
- Tastes better on the second and third days, and freezes well.
