Thursday, December 28, 2006

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup



I ate some of this soup when I got home last night, its very tasty.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter....I think you could sub Olive Oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup sliced celery ribs and leaves
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
1 small apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock or just water
2 cinnamon sticks or 2 teaspoons ground
6 whole cloves or 1/8 teaspoon ground
6 allspice berries or 1/8 teaspoon ground
Salt Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish

Place a large saute' pan over medium-high heat and add butter or Olive Oil.
Add onion and celery and saute' for about 5 minutes until softened. Place the squash and apples in the slow cooker. Add stock
Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours until squash and apples are quite tender. If using whole cinnamon, cloves and allspice, place in a coffee mill or a mortar and pestle and grind into a coarse powder. About 30 minutes before serving, add ground spices to cooker.
Using a handheld blender, carefully pure'e soup until somooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with chives and a dollop of sour cream.

Now Terry cooked this in a pan on the stove it took about an hour. I think this would be fun to try by just leaving it in chunks or just mashing it slightly. It really had some interesting flavors and I could see how mixing other things like pears and cayenne would be interesting.

3 comments:

Joy! said...

What are the thoughts on sour cream?

Jacqueline Brown, said...

I am thinking substitute...mashed avacado?

Joy! said...

Oh yum to that!
Also what about sunflower seeds for crunchy stuff?
I like the avocado though. That sounds quite delish!