Hello readers,
I have made a wonderful pot of soup with one of my most favorite vegetables. It is butternut squash. I love other types of squash too quite equally to be very honest with you. I have put my spin on this as usual. Before I walk you through this yummy recipe, I am going to tell you that the spices I used in here comes from an Indian and Pakistani grocery stores.
In India and Pakistan they have squash but not this type. This type comes from over here in USA. I think at the time of when the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, that the Native Americans welcomed them with various squashes and pumpkins as well as other types of meat that they gave to the early European settlers. Honestly and that is why we have what you call Thanksgiving.
Ok Thanksgiving is not here until a couple of more months really. The American Thanksgiving is in November while the Canadian one is in October. If you want you can include this on your next Thanksgiving table.
So enough said for now. Lets cook this soup, ok. It was so damned hot I did not want to turn on my oven and roast this squash. Also I have not been feeling well at all. So I ended up getting my coldero and putting it on to the stove. I added 1/4 cup of olive oil.
In a mortar and pestle I added 1 each of a strand of mace, clove, a broken piece of star anise, a broken piece of cinnamon stick, 1 pinch each of black peppercorns, allspice that I grind then set aside.
I turn up the heat to high and add 1 onion or shallot to caramelize in the oil, 3 cloves of garlic and stir until it is lightly brown. I add the contents of the mortar and pestle and give it a stir. I added 1 pinch each of white pepper, red chili powder, curry powder , paprika, turmeric, here you can add the cinnamon powder if you did not use pieces of cinnamon stick, grated nutmeg and stir.
I added 1 bullion cube, or 3 pinches of vegtea seasoning, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma, 1 butternut squash that I had washed deseeded then cut in to tiny pieces and stir so it can catch the flavors of the spices. Add 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water. This should be enough to cover the pieces of squash. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let cook for 20 minutes.
After this the squash was nice and soft and it was breaking apart nicely. I shut the heat off and waited for a few minutes to cool. I got out my immersion blender or stick blender to make it easier to remember, that I pureed the contents in the pot. The soup did not look like a bunch of chunks inside water anymore. It looked nice and thick and oh so inviting. Garnish it with 1 small handful of pecans. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt and some pita, French or Italian bread.
One thing about pecans they are so frightfully expensive if you live in the northern states like I do. Even though I live in the Midwest, it is still way north of the Mason Dixon line. However if you live in the Southern part of USA, then you are pretty lucky if you can get them dirt cheep. Some of you may have a pecan tree in your yard. Oh my God!!!! I am green with envy. Ok relax I am just kidding. Seriously though I hope this will become a big hit at your table. Please let me know in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkdin and Pinterest on how you like this recipe.
P.S. for instant pot
method and the like pres sauté function and add oil then fry onion or shallot and garlic. Add spices then the water and squash. Press cancel then select pressure cook on high for 15 minutes then release.
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