butternut squash soup with ginger and coconut

Try this experiment:

Cut a whole squash in half, lengthwise, and look at the flesh. See how it glistens and practically sparkles? Now compare it to the pre-cut stuff in containers or bags. No glisten. No sparkle. Dry at best, turning mushy at worst.

So come on! Go for it! Let’s tackle this thing. It’s really not all that hard to peel and cut a butternut squash. It’s so much more flavorful. And it’s so much cheaper!

There are so many recipes for butternut squash soup out there, even ones that use ginger and coconut milk, that I hesitated to add another one to the collection. That said, my version is so fabulous that I’d be doing my readers a disservice if I neglected to share it. Once you try it, it will be the only one you’ll use. If you’re looking for a butternut soup with more European flavors, I’ll give you my recipe for that one, too.

Many recipes have you cut everything up, toss it all in a pot, and turn on the heat. This is fast and easy and will produce a respectable soup. But it won’t be fabulous. To get to fabulous, we need to build flavors. We want to coax every bit of flavor out of every one of our ingredients.

I like adding cream to my butternut soup. It makes it silky smooth and, well, creamy. Depending upon the flavor profile I’m going for, I sometimes use sweet dairy heavy cream. Sometimes I use sour cream or yogurt. In this soup, I’m using coconut milk . . . which also makes it pareve.

Many of the recipes that have you first roast the squash want you to cut the gourd in half, drizzle it with olive oil, roast it in the oven, and then scrape the flesh from the shell. That’s better than just tossing it into the pot without roasting. But if you really want to get that roast-y flavor from your butternut, you need to cut it up before you roast it. More surface area equals more roastiness. (not a word). And since we’re using coconut milk in the soup, we might as well use coconut oil and intensify that flavor. And coconut oil is a healthy oil.

Whether you use just a pinch, or a bit more than a pinch, the addition of some hot pepper really ramps up the flavor. I love Aleppo pepper. It’s got a kick, but not so much as red pepper flakes, and it has a nice smokiness. Syria said it’s ok for Asia to borrow some for this soup.

And the fun part is that you’re going to make this soup your own, balanced to your taste.

 So let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1 large Butternut Squash - about 4 lbs

1 large yellow or white onion

2 to 3 garlic cloves

4 cups chicken or no-chicken stock

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

½ tsp ground cardamom

Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste.

1 can full fat coconut milk

Diamond Crystal kosher salt and pepper to taste

any of the garnishes, listed below, that you’d like to add

To Peel the Squash

To me, this is the easiest way to peel and cut the squash.

• On a heavy cutting board with a heavy chef’s knife, cut off the stem. That will make it easier to cut.

• Cut the squash in half, lengthwise.

• Using a melon baller or a spoon, scoop out all the seeds and hairy stuff.

• Optional: wash the seeds and set them to dry on paper towels, if you’d like to roast them (yum).

• Cut the squash in half horizontally, separating the long skinny end from the round end that contains the cavity.

• Then, cut each piece in half, vertically, again.

• Now, the pieces will be more manageable to peel.

• Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off your squash pieces.

• Cut the peeled squash into 1 to 2 inch pieces.

Roast the Squash

• Preheat the oven to 425°.

• Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

  In order to draw out the sugars and get the squash to caramelize, you need to add some fat. This might sound a bit messy, but trust me, using your hands is the best way to make sure every bit of every piece is dressed with oil, without using too much and making them greasy.

• Put the squash pieces on the parchment-lined pan. Put about a tablespoon of coconut oil into the palm of one hand. Rub your hands together a bit to warm and melt the oil, and massage it gently into the squash pieces. Sprinkle them very lightly with kosher salt and toss again with your hands.

• Stop to admire your sticky orange hands.

  Now go wash and dry your hands. See how nice and soft your hands are? Coconut oil is good for the body, inside and out.

• Slide the pan into the oven and roast the squash until it begins to pick up color. It will take somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour for this to happen.

Now Let’s Make Soup

• In a soup pot, warm the other tablespoon of coconut oil. Sauté the chopped onion in the oil until it begins to caramelize, then add the garlic and the ginger. Sauté for another minute. Add the stock, the cardamom, the hot pepper, and the roasted squash. Simmer the soup over medium/low heat for about 30 minutes.

• Purée the soup. The easiest way is with an immersion blender. This one is a monster and so far it’s lasted longer than any other one I’ve ever had. Alternatively, you can purée the soup in a food processor or blender, in batches.

• Stir in the coconut milk and a squeeze of lime, then re-heat the soup until it’s nice and hot.

• Taste the soup. You may need to add salt, depending upon the saltiness of your stock. If it tastes flat, it wants salt. If you’d like it to be a bit sweeter (that’s a personal taste), add a teaspoon of coconut sugar or light brown sugar, stir to dissolve, and taste again. You can keep adding sugar, a teaspoon at a time, until it tickles your fancy. Add another squeeze of lime, if you’d like. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add a little more stock until it’s your version of perfect.

• Ladle the soup into individual bowls.

Now you can get creative. Here are some ideas …

• Swirl a spoonful of coconut cream into each bowl.

• Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds, either in their shells, or shelled

• Sprinkle on some toasted coconut

• Decorate with chopped cilantro

• Sprinkle on some pomegranate arils

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?