Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Hi all!

Sorry I haven’t been posting as frequently as I usually do. Life gets the better of me every now and again; but I’m back with more delicious pumpkin recipes.

This dish is about as seasonal as it’s going to get at the moment. I hope you can also see that I’m linking thing’s I’m using with previous recipes so that you can follow along with my fridge. The idea behind this is to show you how much easier you can make your food and how much better it can be by simply setting yourself up and knowing how to use what you have on hand.

I’ve become a big fan of sweet and spicy combinations and I think this soup is a great introduction to the flavor combination. The soup itself is pretty simple to make, but I chose to serve it in a modern fashion where the soup is poured into a pre-garnished bowl; as opposed to having it on top. So if you want to skip the garnish, it’s really easy.

The soup is pureed at the end, so uniform cuts aren’t really important here at all. All these specifics of slices and dices are there for your understanding. Just know that you want to keep them all the same size so they cook evenly – that’s the key here.  

This is a great way to serve soup to guests! However, if you want to skip all the fanciness, just serve it straight with some fresh hearty bread and it will be sure to please.

Squash and sweet potato soup

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Squash and sweet potato soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large Spanish onions (sliced)

2 large carrots (diced)

1 stalk celery (diced)

3 cloves garlic (sliced) or 2 T minced garlic (jarred)

1 Thai chili (or jalapeno) (diced)

1 tsp siracha

¼ tsp vanilla

1 Quart butternut squash (diced)

2 Quarts pumpkin (diced)

1 Apple (diced)

1 pinch celery seed

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dark chili powder

2 quarts stock (vegetable or chicken)

4 sweet potatos (diced)

Salt

Pepper

Apple Ricotta

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 Tablespoon apple butter

1 tsp olive oil

2 leaves sage (fresh) (chiffonade)

Pepper garnish

1 Tablespoon pickled Anaheim pepper (diced)

2 Tablespoons pickled red onion (diced)

¼ cup sweet and salty pumpkin seeds (chopped fine)

½ Tablespoon parsley (chiffonade)

1 tsp olive oil

2 teaspoons dried cranberry (diced small)

Directions:

Squash and sweet potato soup

1. In a large pot over medium heat, sweat off carrots, onions, and celery until the onions are almost translucent; add the garlic and chili pepper until onions become clear.
2. Add vanilla and siracha and stir until incorporated.
3. Add your squashes and apple; stir occasionally until they begin to give off steam and begin to caramelize.
4. Add celery seed, sweet paprika, chili powder. Stir in until it coats everything.
5. Add your sweet potatoes and stock.
6. Allow to come to a boil and then bring the heat down to a simmer.
7. Cook soup until potatoes are fork soft (about 1 hour).
8. In small batches, blend in a blender until smooth and carry through a strainer to remove any fibrous strands that remain.
9. Once the entire mixture is blended, add back into the pot on low heat and season to taste.

Apple Ricotta

1. Push ricotta cheese through mesh strainer before using.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated
3. Hint: use your tabletop mixer paddle attachment to make this more fluffy and smooth.

Pepper Garnish

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until incorporated
2. Hint: Do a really fine chop on the seeds, or substitute with pepitas.