Creamy pureed vegetable soup, made with butternut squash
Brian Lagerstrom · ♥ 11K likes · 269.7K views · 11 min video
Read about winter squash and pumpkin in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
Six steps: sweat the aromatics; add the star vegetable and liquids; cook until tender; puree; strain through a mesh strainer; season with salt and acidity.
- 300 g white onion
Give the onion a lazy chunky dice and slice the garlic into thin coins; size does not matter because the blender destroys it later.
- 25 g garlic
- 30–40 g olive oil
Add the olive oil to the pot, then the onions and garlic and a strong pinch of salt to draw out moisture.
- salt
Sweat the aromatics over medium low for about 15 to 20 minutes, until fully melted and translucent with no caramelization -- caramelization steps on the delicate flavour of the star vegetable.
- 1200 g butternut squash
- 1000 g store-bought chicken stock
- 500 g heavy cream
Add the rough chopped butternut squash, then the chicken stock and the heavy cream.
Raise the heat to a simmer, put the lid on with a gap for steam, reduce to medium low and cook 25 to 30 minutes until everything mushes against the side of the pot; any less and the vegetable fibre persists through the puree.
Puree in a high powered blender in three batches, about one minute each, filling the jar no more than 50 to 60 percent because boiling liquid bubbles up.
- water
Add a little of the liquid from the pot, or extra water, if it gets too thick in the blender.
- salt
- lemon juice
Season with at least three strong pinches of salt and a little drizzle of lemon juice, stir and taste again.
- black pepper
- olive oil
Serve in a bowl with fresh cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on top.
- 75 g onion
- 75 g leek
- 75 g celery
- 75 g fennel
Variation: replace the 300 g of onion with 75 grams each of onion, leek, celery and fennel, diced roughly as before.
- 1200 g celery root and potato
Variation: use 1200 grams of star vegetable split two to one between celery root and potato.
- 30–40 g butter
Variation: sweat the aromatics in 30 to 40 grams of butter instead of olive oil, about 20 minutes, until softened and translucent.
Variation: add the star vegetables, then the cream, then the stock, bring to a simmer, lid on, and simmer on low 25 to 30 minutes until fully tender -- important with potato, since undercooked potato makes gluey soup once pureed.
- fried pumpkin seeds
- rustic crusty bread
Variation: puree in three batches, pass through fine mesh, season with salt and a little lemon juice, and garnish with fried pumpkin seeds, olive oil and cracked black pepper, with crusty bread alongside.