Рецепт A Great Start To A Fall Meal!
Here we go, another confession from The Saucy Gourmet....I have never, until the other day bought a butternut squash and until Tuesday, knew nothing about them. There, that is off my chest now. Another fear "squashed"!
Tuesday, when I was in the grocery store, the squash were taunting me.....so I did it, I scooped up a butternut squash and brought it home with me. Now what? On to the Internet I went to find out all about the gourd and what to do with it.
A Butternut Squash has a hard, thick skin and it is filled with seeds. OK, so how do you peel it? After checking out many recipes and reading tons of comments, I decided the oven method was the way to go and it worked wonderfully, the skin came right off! The flesh was a light orange and had a slightly sweet flavor. Since it is a winter squash, available in early Fall through Winter, soup sounded like the best choice and since I had some pears that were ripening faster than we could eat them, I decided to try a Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Soup. I really enjoyed it, but my hubby said it was too sweet for his taste. For the last 2 days, it has "squashed" my afternoon sweet craving. Matter of fact, I am eating the bowl pictured above as I type. Then it is off to Rolling Pin to prepare for a Wine Tasting tonight for 25 and a private party tomorrow night for 45. Just FYI, all 50 of the tart shells are baked and in the freezer, hurray! Actually there are about 58 in the freezer, I wasn't pleased with some, so I put them off to the side and made another batch. I plan to keep them handy just in case some unforeseeable accident happens tomorrow and a tray gets dropped. Better safe than sorry!
- 1 (2 pound) butternut squash
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 inch dice
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membrane. Place squash halves, cut sides down, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven until very soft, about 45 minutes. Peel the squash and, and reserve the pulp. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, and salt. Cook and stir until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the pot, and bring to a boil. Stir in the pears and the reserved squash, and simmer until the pears are very soft, about 30 minutes.
Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender. Puree in batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the cream, and reheat. This is wonderful warm or cold!