I can’t take all the credit for this one, but I’ve adapted the idea and created a recipe with strong flavors that I love together. A little spice with the sweetness of the squash combined with the tangy smashed peas are a real mouthful to carry you through cooling weather.
Curried Squash Soup Yield: 1 gallon
Ingredients:
1ea Medium Squash about 4lbs (like a Red Kuri, Buttercup, Aunt Thelma or Kabocha)
2ea Sweet Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
4ea ginger slices, peeled and ¼” thick
4T curry powder
2t cayenne Pepper (optional, for spicy soup)
½ gallon vegetable stock, low sodium
3T honey
3T apple cider vinegar
TT sea salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut the squash in half and place cut side down on a lightly oiled sheet tray. Roast in oven until knife tender.
Remove squash from oven and flip over to let cool for 10 minutes. Then remove guts and seeds, discard. Scrape out flesh of squash with a large spoon and place into a non-reactive pot.
Place remainder of ingredients into pot and season with salt and cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until you can smash squash with a fork.
Puree in a high speed blender until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Does it need more salt or cayenne? Honey? Vinegar? All the different types of squash have different sugar content and even fluctuate depending on growing conditions. This causes different flavors profiles. None are the same, so taste taste taste!
Top with pea puree, a sprinkle of ground sumac and serve.
Enjoy.
Yogurt-Smashed Pea Garnish (Smashed Peas) Yield: 1c
Ingredients:
1 cup peas, raw or thawed from frozen
1/2c yogurt, whole fat – Greek style
2T lime juice
1t lime zest
TT sea salt
Directions:
If peas are raw: In a large pot of SALTY boiling water, cook peas for 2 minutes and shock them in an ice bath. The ice bath protects the crazy green chlorophyll of the peas from turning brown and also stops the peas from cooking any further. Do not let the peas sit in the ice bath for too long, once the peas are completely cooled, remove immediately and strain them to remove excess water.
Now we process. You have a few options here depending on your preference. If you want a super smooth product, use a high speed blender. If you prefer a chunkier sauce then use a food processor. Regardless of what you want to do, begin to process in batches until all is processed to you desired finished product. I usually will make mine chunky and textured.
Place all ingredients in food processor and a pinch of salt. Blend until desired consistency.
Taste. Should be zesty fresh. If it seems dull add a small pinch of salt at a time or more lime juice until you’ve reached desired product.
Enjoy.
