Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with White Wine & Toasted Pine Nuts
It’s cold!! brrr… And I’ve been thinking – was I not meant to be living on an island with coconut trees and white sandy beaches? Why am I living on this island of Manhattan? Being subjected to cold, gloomy days like today, and even a threat of snow at the end of the week! But then I have to remind myself I’d probably be so bored with endless days of sunshine and beach. Right? Right.
And then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy delicious comforts like warming myself with some yummy soup, and later snuggling under blankets on the sofa with a good book. Aaah, there are joys to be found no matter where we are.
Speaking of soups and joys, I love this soup. It’s quite easy to make, it’s surprisingly delicious! One of my friends who hates soup (I didn’t know this at the time I made soup for that dinner), really liked it! It’s the first soup he’s ever liked. That was quite a compliment. I’ve served it at other dinners too, and everyone else has enjoyed it. So it’s one of those things that you can make for yourself at home, but also beautiful and tasty so that it’s good for a dinner party menu, especially now during the holiday season.
What makes the soup especially good is garnishing with toasted pine nuts at the time of serving. My advice is not to skip the pine nuts!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with White Wine & Toasted Pine Nuts
YIELD: 6 cups
INGREDIENTS
Roasting Squash
- 1 large (about 3 pounds) butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt for sprinkling on squash when roasting
- black pepper, freshly ground, for sprinkling on squash when roasting
Making soup
- 3 cups chicken stock (I use store bought paste to make the stock)
- 3/4 cups shallots, chopped
- 1 sprig fresh thyme (about 1.5 teaspoon), use the leaves
- 5 garlic cloves (1.5 tablespoon), smashed and minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- pinch nutmeg
Garnish
- 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
- 6 teaspoons heavy cream, for swirling on top of soup when serving
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted, for sprinkling on top when serving
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Cut the butternut squash in half, lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds.
- Drizzle olive oil on each half, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Line a baking pan with aluminum foil, and place the squash halves face down on the foil.
- Put the pan in the oven and roast for about an an hour. Check after an hour – if the skin looks soft like it can easily peel off (see photo), remove from oven (otherwise you can leave in for another 15 minutes).
- After removing the squash from the oven, let it cool enough to touch (about 10-15 minutes). Then peel off and discard the skin. Move to a platter, and cut the squash into 1 inch cubes.
- Make 3 cups of chicken stock in a pot.
- Separately, in a wide pan, melt half tablespoon of the butter on medium heat.
- Add chopped shallot and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add half teaspoon salt and leaves from the sprig of thyme. Continue stirring for another 2 minutes.
- Add squash cubes, stir throughly and cook for about 3 mins. Add chicken stock, honey, and stir.
- When the liquid starts boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins. As it cooks, flatten the squash pieces with the back of the spoon (this helps the flavors to meld).
- Add 1/4 cup of white wine, and simmer for another 10 mins, then turn off heat.
- Melt remaining 1.5 tablespoon of butter in a small pan, and add to the squash pan. Stir thoroughly. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Taste to make sure no more salt is needed.
- Transfer the squash mix to to a blender, add a pinch of nutmeg, and puree till smooth.
- Toast the pine nuts. Heat a small pan over medium heat, add the nuts, and toast stirring from time to time till the nuts are light brown. Remove from the pan and reserve till you’re ready to serve.
- When you’re ready to serve, ladle the soup into bowls, swirl a teaspoon of heavy cream on the soup in each bowl, garnish with toasted pine nuts and some fresh thyme leaves.
Note: The flavors of the soup develop over the next day, so you can make this in advance if you’re cooking for a dinner party, and store in fridge. Warm up, and serve as in step 17.
