Last spring, I was obsessed with Bravo's Top Chef. And my favorite contestant, the hat-wearing, foul-mouthed Spike Mendelsohn, had an obsession of his own ... butternut squash soup. (I'm not kidding, watch the video montage below. Spike said "butternut squash soup" at least a dozen times in a single episode.) Ever since then, I've been waiting for butternuts to come into season so that I could satisfy my craving for squash soup. Well, at long last, fall is here and beautiful butternut squash (squashes?) are plentiful at the farmer's market, and I didn't waste any time getting one. Even though this recipe from The Book is a lot less complicated than Spike's recipe, it's anything but boring. For starters, the recipe's name, "Creamless Creamy Squash Soup," lets you know right away that the folks at Gourmet have something up their sleeves. The creaminess in this "creamless" soup comes from the addition of potatoes which are slow-cooked, and pureed with the squash to give the soup a silky, smooth texture without a drop of cream. Other tricks include the addition of red pepper flakes, which gives the soup an unexpected kick of spiciness, and the unusual garnish of crushed Italian amaretto cookies, which, along with the drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, gives this comfort-food soup an air of sophistication that would make it at home at a four-star restaurant.
ICYMI: Butternut Squash Soup
Date Cooked: September 21, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: A-
3 comments:
Spike was your FAVORITE?? I thought he was obnoxious! But I do love butternut squash soup :)
spike was my favorite, too. at least when he finally made his butternut squash soup with andrew it turned out to be a hit with the judges. if it wasn't, it would've been pretty funny considering how much he talked about it. :)
i like your blog and check in on it frequently to see what you've been cooking.
creamless...now you're talking my language!
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