Butternut Squash and Leek Soup
Butternut Squash and Leek Soup – recipe from the Tao Restaurant
Bonjour!!
A special treat with this blog entry! Not only is this a very simple and delicious soup, but also the history of the particular squash is fascinating!!
Though this recipe calls for simply “butternut squash”, I'm using a special type of butternut squash that we grew in the Grow City Teaching Garden this year – Sucrine du Berry. I got the seed from a friend, and I think she originally got the seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which was the first seed company to offer seeds of this very old heirloom. Here is the Baker Creek description, from their web site:
“(C. moschata) 100 days. A famous old traditional variety from the heart of France. It has a sweet, musky fragrance and a delicious, sweet flesh that is used in jams, soups, and many French recipes. Small 3-5 lb. fruit is perfect for roasting and has deep orange flesh. Oblong, bell-shaped fruit is tannish-orange in color when mature. We are happy to introduce this flavorful variety to America.”
Searching further, I found this video that tells the fascinating round-about history of this variety of butternut, from New World to Europe, even showing photos of the unique areas in Europe where it was continued and where it flourished. Seed stories are wonderful. And knowing that the little things I hold in my hand and am about to put into the ground where I live, were saved and planted in so many interesting, faraway places – it just boggles my mind.
And now, to the Garden!!
We have had a lot of trouble with squash bugs in the Grow City Garden (I can hear some of you right now saying, “Yeah, tell me about it!”), so it was with hesitation that I went ahead and planted squash again this year. But I couldn't resist trying to grow this squash with the French name, seeds passed along by a friend. I knew nothing about the variety at the time. Into the soil of Bed #5 they went, with straw mulch on top.
The plants grew splendidly!! The vines and leaves filled the bed so heavily that we had to move the leaves to spot the squash, even when the fruits turned tannish-orange. And the fruits grew splendidly, too. I highly recommend this variety for your garden!! Yes, we did get squash bugs. But we kept after the eggs, nymphs and adults, and it seemed there weren't as many on these plants as we've had on other varieties in the past.
So, from a small space we got a good number of healthy squashes (we had one that got soft from disease carried by squash bugs). These I rescued and brought home to clean so that they would continue to stay firm and healthy.
And I turned one of them into this wonderful soup.
The recipe came from a book called The Tao of Cooking, which you can still find and purchase, and I highly recommend it. The Tao Restaurant was a wonderful little place in Bloomington, Indiana, mainly in the 1970's. During almost all of its years it was owned and run by an ashram and was vegetarian, and they really knew how to do vegetarian food!! My husband (then boyfriend) and I had a number of great meals there.
There was also an associated bakery called Rudi's which eventually included a deli. This bakery created exquisite French breads, pastries, cakes and all sorts of delectables. I had the great good fortune to work on the bakery serving side for a year's time near the end of the existence of the Tao Restaurant and Rudi's Bakery and Deli. I've been a snob about the quality of croissants ever since. :D
Now let's get to the nitty-gritty, because you will really, really want to make this soup! Here is the recipe from the book:
Obviously, the soup calls for leeks. We did not grow leeks this year in the Grow City Teaching Garden. I also did not grow leeks this year at home, or even in the French garden at the Vincennes State Historic Sites (though I have in the past). But we did grow some little white onions in the Grow City Teaching Garden, and I always, always grow He-Shi-Ko scallions at home.
I figured that a combination of white onion and scallions would be very close to the flavor and texture of leeks. So, here we go …
The first order of business is to cut off the ends of the squash and peel off the rind. I used a regular kitchen peeler – kind of tedious but does the job. There are some recipes using squash where you can bake it first and then scrape out the meat from the peel, but I was going according to this recipe.
Toss the squash ends and peel in your compost.
Then cut open the squash and use a large spoon to scrape out the seeds and pulp.
You can toss all of that into your compost (possibly growing volunteer squash in your compost next year), or you can clean the seeds from the pulp and then wash them in a colander. What to do next with the seeds? 1. You can toss them in oil and spice and bake them on a tray, then have a delicious, healthy snack of roasted squash seeds. 2. You can spread the washed seeds on a towel and let them dry, then save them to plant next year (or share some with friends). This is only done with heirloom varieties, if you want your plants to stay true to variety. No hybrids. I'm saving my seed and then testing their germination this winter because I want to continue this variety that has bounced around the world and been saved and passed along by so many people.
Then, cut the squash meat into approximately 1” cubes.
Pour 4 cups of broth into a large pot. The recipe calls for vegetable broth because, of course, this was from a vegetarian restaurant. I didn't have any vegetable broth on hand, but did have chicken broth, so my soup is not truly vegetarian this time. You can make your own vegetable broth to freeze or can, but that can be another blog post someday.
Toss the cubed squash into the broth and bring it all to a boil. Then turn the heat way down, cover the pot, and let simmer 15 to 20 minutes until the squash cubes are tender (test one with a fork).
When tender, transfer small amounts of the squash/broth to a blender or food processor and turn it into a puree. I then transfer the pureed batch into a large bowl before doing the next batch. Alternatively, you can use one of those hand-held blenders right in the pot (which wasn't invented yet when the book came out).
Next, thinly slice your leeks until you have about 1 ½ cups (in my case, I sliced/chopped and equivalent amount of white onion and scallions). (Note: with leeks, there is sometimes sand between the green leaves. Make lengthwise slices along the leaves and then rinse well before slicing.)
Saute these in 2 tablespoons butter melted in a pan. Cook the leeks (or other alliums) until tender but not brown. This smells wonderful.
Return the squash puree to the pot and add the sauteed leeks.
Then add the ¾ cup milk and ¾ cup cream, slowly, while stirring. I did not have cream on hand so I added 1 ½ cups milk. It worked out very well, but I'm sure it would be even better with some cream because, well, isn't everything?
Alternatively, you could try using a milk-substitute, such as those made from oats, soy, rice, etc.
Then add salt and freshly ground pepper, to your taste. Stir in and heat through. Taste the soup and then adjust the seasonings if needed.
Et, voila! That's it! Pretty easy! Preparing the squash and doing the puree part takes the most time but is not difficult.
Now pour the soup into bowls and be sure you have one or more people to share it with. You could “decorate” the bowls of soup if you wish. Maybe sprinkle on some chopped chives or scallions. Or some toasted, ground squash seeds. Or some croutons made by cubing French bread, tossing those with olive oil and herbs, and toasting them in the oven.
We had it with a classic “Tao supper” that we often ordered at the restaurant, which, besides the “Soup of the Day”, was slices of the “Quiche of the Day”, a bowl of “Tao Fried Rice” to share, a “Tao Salad”, and a pot of herbal tea (recipes for all but the tea can be found in the same book).
A "Tao supper" includes great ways to use what you have in the garden. The soup with squash or another kind of soup made from garden harvest. The salad – of course. The fried rice has scallions. And quiche is always a good thing to play around with, using what you have from the garden (two of the things I used were green and red sweet peppers). And you can make your own tea with a mix of your favorite herbs from the garden, maybe even some edible, aromatic flowers added, and bits of dried fruit.
Oh, and I also made “Tao Dressing” for the salad – a very green, bright, fresh-tasting dressing, from the same book, that I'll share in the next blog entry.
When I was looking into Sucrine du Berry squash, I found that there's a special pie from the Loire region of France the uses this particular variety of squash. So, I did a search for this Citrouillat Berrichon. All of the recipes I found were in French (a good sign, and a way to practice one's French), but I got an English translation of a recipe that looks so very traditional and authentic. Maybe you'd like to try it, and also to grow Sucrine du Berry squash in your garden next year! :)
(Note: as of this writing, I have not yet tried making the pie.)
The citrouillat berrichon: specialty of berry | Val de Loire (my-loire-valley.com)
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