“Remember remember the 5th of November…”
Note: this post isn’t about the gunpowder, treason, and plot. It’s about butternut squash soup. But I made it on November 5th and can’t get that line out of my head, so there ya go.
Ah, butternut squash soup. What a beautiful fall treat that is so easy to mess up with too much sugar. If you’re someone who enjoys a dessert-like winter squash soup, read no further. I’m not one of you. The squash itself is already so sweet that I go out of my way to avoid a cloying result. (I’d rather just bite the bullet and have a thick slice of pumpkin bread.) BUT… play off that natural sweetness with some pancetta and sage? Yes please.
Bill and I went to a class at the Viking Cooking School and came home with this scrumptious recipe. I’m a fan because it uses a ton of fantastic fall ingredients while still letting the flavor of the squash shine. And that natural sweetness we talked about earlier? It’s developed by roasting the squash—simply with olive oil, salt and pepper—along with some shallots.
After you roast the squash, you sauté the soup base (leeks, carrots, celery) in pancetta drippings (more about the pancetta below… get excited) before letting the whole thing simmer and come together.
Now here is where Bill and I part ways. The soup is pureed with an immersion blender, which makes it very creamy by itself. But I still thought it needed a splash of cream to round out the finish. Bill disagreed. I’ll be testing my theory on the next go-round. Where we did see eye to eye was on the addition of a healthy dose of Louisiana hot sauce (trust me on this one) before topping the soup with FRIED SAGE AND CRISPY PANCETTA. Gilding the lily? Just a bit. A tiny, wonderful bit.
All you need to finish the evening is a fire and a good glass of wine. And maybe a splash of cream.
