Kabocha Squash Soup: A Perfect Bowl Of Fall

It started with a Kabocha squash and muttered self-criticisms like, "WHY did I pack that skillet?"

There's a lot of change going on this month. I am moving to a new apartment. Then, in true freelance form, a project started and suddenly stopped. When change comes about, I love to make a big pot of something simple, so at least I know I have consistent meals in between bubble wrap and boxes.

This soup became a gift to myself. One meal-making session created four dinners during a time when I'm so busy, I'm forgetting to eat or am skipping meals, and its simplicity makes it a new favorite recipe. The base has eight ingredients (read: what I had left lying around), and that's counting water, salt and pepper. It's an homage to the new ingredients the season brings, in food and life.

You're going to make a nice soup.

Kabocha Squash Soup
Burwell General Store
Serves: Eight

Ingredients:
Soup:
1 Kabocha Squash, halved, seeded and roasted (If you can't find a Kabocha squash, try one butternut and one acorn squash to replicate the Kabocha since butternuts are relatively sweet.)
3-4 large cloves shallot (a scant 1/2 cup, minced)
2 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
16 oz. organic or homemade vegetable or chicken stock (I used veggie)
Approx. 4 cups water
2 Tbsp. dark brown or Demerara sugar
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to drizzle

Garnish:
toasted pecans
Fried sage leaves (hot olive oil, fry ten seconds a side until the leaves turn deep green, drain)
Parmesan cheese
Whole grain bread on the side (Not shown. I absentmindedly ate it while taking the pictures.)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375F. Halve, seed, oil and roast a Kabocha squash on a sheet pan for 45min-1hr until fork-tender.  Let cool, then scoop out the flesh and discard the skins. In a stock pot, saute shallot until translucent. Add sage and stir for a minute. Add squash, stock and three cups of water and let come to a simmer. Season liberally with salt and pepper, add sugar and simmer for another half hour, making sure everything is still stirring around in the pot, adding more water if it isn't. Press soup through a fine mesh sieve or blend in batches in a blender until you reach a smooth consistency with a few bits of texture here and there. Return to pot and add any final water if you desire a thinner soup. To serve, top with toasted pecans, grated Parmesan and fried sage, warmed bread on the side.

Notes: My pot kept for four days in the fridge, but I imagine this freezes nicely, too.  This can be completely vegan if you use vegetable stock and omit the Parmesan cheese.

Roasted Baby Zucchini and Gruyere Gratin

Every week at the Santa Monica farmer's market, I walk by the farmers who I call the squash-and-artichoke farmers.  There are many squash and artichoke farmers there, so you won't be led to them if you go looking for farmers under that description.  That's just a marker in my mind that indicates they are the best squash and artichoke farmers at the market.

 

Only a person with no soul would have missed their first showing of squash this season about a month ago, effulgent yellow squash blossoms beaming from their tables.  I picked up a measure of those and practically skipped home to make something with them.  They looked like this:

 

and they became part of one of my favorite recipes to date, Black Truffled Risotto with Fried Squash Blossoms.

The lucky little green babies that came home with me yesterday are part of what I'm calling the Squash Series, where I buy squash from the squash-and-artichoke farmers across the season and cook with it at all stages of growth.  This is one of the things I love about blogging. I make stuff up and create fun for myself and hopefully, others.

Initial grander, spicier plans for these babies involved nutmeg and thyme, but it seemed like it would have defiled them to add spices. These tender, sweet, buttery squash didn't need much company in the pan. Perhaps when they get older and bolder, like so many of us do, they will be complimented by spicier counterparts.

Roasted Baby Zucchini and Gruyere Gratin
Burwell General Store

Serves: 4

Black Truffled Risotto with Fried Squash Blossoms

We are blessed in southern California with a growing season that is as plentiful as it is inspirational.  Last week, I stumbled upon a micro season known as squash blossom season, and with that, I relieved my fellow farmer's market farmer of a container, skipped back to my kitchen and went to work on a dinner that united these blossoms with my palate.

Black Truffled Risotto with Fried Squash Blossoms

Total prep and cook time: an hour and a half. (A good risotto emerges on its own time.)