Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

I don’t know how to start telling you about this soup. I’m currently on my lunch break at my office, half-asleep and jittery from a combination of DayQuil and coffee, and I just drew a cartoon of a ham tapping away at a typewriter. On a normal day, I would tell you about how the slow burn of chipotle peppers and curry powder balance the buttery sweetness of the squash. I would also tell you about how a dollop of sour cream takes the edge off the heat and lends an extra bit of richness to an otherwise light bowl of soup and how nice the big crunchy croutons are. All I can tell you right now, though, is that my nose is stuffy and that I desperately wish I hadn’t forgotten the leftovers at home.

 

I whipped this soup together last night while Sarah made homemade sweet-potato fries and a lemony basil-garlic sauce in which to dip them in. The entire kitchen smelled delicious: the combined aromas of baking croutons, spicy-sweet butternut squash, browning sweet potatoes, and the lemon-basil-garlic blend made it smell like fall had landed smack-dab in the middle of the house… even here in temperate Florida.

 

 

We paired our soup with a brown ale from Cigar City Brewing Company, a local brewery in Tampa that makes some of the best beers in the country. We chose to drink a Bolita Double Nut Brown Ale because we thought the caramel and coffee flavors rounded out the very subtle sweetness of the soup. If you can’t get your hands on Bolita, there are lots of other fantastic nut brown ales out there. Some of my favorites Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Lazy Magnolia’s Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale, and Goose Island’s Nut Brown Ale.

 

Note: this recipe makes a lot of soup. You can very easily halve the recipe, and the spices can also be adjusted to suit your tastes.

 

 

SPICY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients

• Two butternut squashes, peeled and cubed
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• One large shallot, finely chopped
• One large can of chicken broth (mine was one of the giant 49 oz. cans)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. curry powder (I used Badia’s Jamaican style curry powder)
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped *
• 1-2 tsp. garlic powder (to taste)
• Sour cream and croutons to garnish (recipe for croutons below)

 

In a large soup pot, melt the butter and add the shallot; cook until transparent. Add butternut squash and pour in just enough chicken broth to completely submerge the cubes (if you don’t have enough broth just make up the difference with some water).  Bring the whole thing to a simmer, cover, and let cook until the squash is tender.

 

When the squash is very tender, use a blender or food processor to puree the soup. PLEASE NOTE that when you puree very hot liquids you must do it in very small batches. If you don’t, the steam builds up in the blender and can blow the top off, which makes for a very big, very painful mess. Believe me. I have done it. pureed mine in two-cup batches and just poured the puree into a big bowl. It also helps to pulse the blender instead of setting it to go full-blast. It should only take a couple of pulses for the soup to be smooth. In your last batch, throw the chipotle pepper in and puree that up as well.

 

Once all your soup is smooth, return it to the pot, add your seasonings, and cook for a few more minutes. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and a couple of big croutons.

 

* You can find canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the ethnic food section of most grocery stores. One pepper gave the soup a nice slow heat that Sarah and Heath said was about as spicy as they liked it. Dave and I love spicy food and I would add another one if it was just for the two of us. You can also skip the pepper or use hot curry powder for a more delicate spice. This recipe would also be delicious with cumin, cinnamon, garam masala, or an endless combination of other spices. Experiment!

 

CROUTONS

 

Ingredients

• Half a loaf of Italian bread, cut into 2” cubes
• Lots of olive oil (enough to completely coat the cubes)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Kosher salt

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine olive oil and bread: toss to coat. Lay out on a baking sheet and sprinkle evenly with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Bake until browned and crispy.

 

SWEET POTATO FRIES

 

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (1 per person)
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with tinfoil (it makes cleanup way easier).  Cut potatoes into fries; you can do big wedges or finger-sized fries like Sarah did. Lay the fries on the cookie sheets in a single layer: drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake until cooked through and starting to brown, about 30-45 minutes.

 

LEMONY BASIL-GARLIC SAUCE

 

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves, chopped
• - ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• Salt, to taste

 

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and whisk together. Keep chilled until ready to eat.