Beth Rowen
Making comfort foods from root vegetables and squash is one of the best parts of cooler weather in the Northeast. This recipe was acquired by enduring grueling hours as a sycophantic sous chef in my father’s kitchen. If you want to make friends and influence people, give them a quart of this no-cream soup. Goes well with a polar vortex, bomb cyclone, nor'easter or bombogenesis.
Serves approximately 16. You will want leftovers.
Ingredients:
2 large whole butternut squash
2 Vidalia onions
3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
3 parsnips
4 qts. excellent quality vegetable broth, such as Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth
2 rounded Tbsp. Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
8 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 rounded Tbsp. fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
4 Tbsp. butter (veg) or 4 Tbsp. olive oil (vegan), plus more for sautéing
Nutmeg (whole or in grinder)
1 tsp. curry
Pepper to taste
Toppings of your choice*
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Carefully split both squash lengthwise, seed and place flesh side up in a lined baking dish. Brush with olive oil. Fill each cavity with 2 Tbsp. maple syrup and 1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil and then grate nutmeg over each (appx 8 passes of a microplane or mill grinds per squash). Cover loosely with foil and bake at least 90 minutes, or until very tender. Cool and gut squash. Discard skin. Peel and medium dice onions and potatoes. Small dice parsnips. In large stock pot, place vegetable broth and base, along with potatoes. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat and cook 20 minutes or until soft. While potatoes are cooking, heat 2 Tbsp. of oil or butter in a nonstick skillet. Add onions, parsnips, curry, ginger and ground pepper to taste. Sauté on medium until very tender. When all vegetables are cooked, add along with squash to stock pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender and serve with or without toppings.
*You can be as creative as you like with toppings. For vegans: crispy onions, frizzled shallots, seeds, fire-roasted tomatoes, sautéed shitake mushrooms, aged balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs, toasted pepitas. For vegetarians: plain yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche are just a few ideas.
TIDBIT
The Right Stuff
Maple syrup may sit next to pancake syrup on the grocery store shelf, but it is far removed from that thicker, highly-processed colored corn syrup that may be “maple flavored.” Boiled down from the sap of maple trees, real maple syrup is thinner and graded by color, density, and translucency, with Grade A made up of the following varieties: Golden (Delicate Taste), Amber (Rich Taste), Dark (Robust Taste), and Very Dark (Strong Taste). Canada produces 70-80% of the world’s maple syrup. Vermont is the US’s top producer of the sweet treat from nature. Stick to the real stuff when stocking your kitchen!
