Winter Squash Soup

This is a little bit different.   I still have some winter squash from my CSA.  I was inspired by Lucia’s to make this soup.  I tried to make it healthy and tasty.  You be the judge.  Of course, you could add cream.  I did not.  You could serve this with a hearty bread for a delicious lunch.  I also like it with roasted root veggies.  

I made this today.  I had some “fish stock” in the fridge made from simply boiling the life out of crab shells.  I like to boil the shells, as the don’t stink up the trash as much.  When I don’t have real chicken stock, I will use something else.  It makes the flavor much more complex.  The recipe calls for I used that in place of the chicken stock.  Please note that I used a blender a couple of times for this recipe.  When blending/”whirring” hot items, do not use a sealed lid.  Cover the lid with a clean towel and add power slowly.  If hot pressure is blended, it can cause the pressure to increase.  Hot liquid all over you and your kitchen.  Danger!  Danger!  

Ingredients:

• 2 acorn or other winter squash.
• 4 carrots.  
• 2 stalks of celery.
• 1 quart of tap water with chicken soup base, if you don’t have any stock.
• 1 can of garbanzo beans (also known as chick peas).
• 8 oz. of chunky applesauce.*
• 1 tbsp. Sel et Herbs de la France (posted on this blog earlier).  I don’t add salt until the very end, if needed.
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper.
• Garnish, if you’d like with rye or wheat berries, additional herbs, sour cream, chopped pecans, or fresh herbs.  Garnish is really important on this one, and most blended soups.  

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Roast the squash for 15-20 minutes.  Wash it.  I poke several holes in it and microwave for a few minutes to make it easier to cut in half to roast in the oven.  If they have frozen, you can skip this step and let them thaw before cutting.  Cut in half remove the seeds, and place in cast iron pan with a bit of butter on each half, or on any pan.  After it’s slightly cooled, remove the skin/shell.
3. While the squash is roasting, boil the carrots and celery in the stock.  Cool slightly.  Blend in Vita Mix.
4. Add the beans and squash and blend some more.
5. Return soup to pan and add applesauce and herbs.
6. Heat and taste.  Add salt, if needed.  You might also need to add some water, if it’s too thick for your liking.
7. Serve with garnish, if desired.

• I used applesauce that I canned from apples, also from my CSA.  I smile every time I use them.   All I used was peeled apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup!  Yummy!

You could also add some browned Spicy italian Sausage, if you’d like a more hearty bowl full of goodness.  Notice that I didn’t blend the soup after adding the applesauce.  That texture and that in the herbs is really nice.