roasted squash and veggie soup (crema di zucca)
In another moment of weakness (culinary voyeur that he is), bob acquired another
photo-filled cookbook. A thick full page photo of cream of squash soup (crema di zucca!)
sank the hook this time. Yellow squash. From the summer category of squash. But it was a
winter squash season. Our lactose intolerant guest forced some other modifications here as
well. Kill the cream. Pass on the parmesan. Ready the lactaid 100 (percent free of lactose
presumably). Break open the butternut squash.
We consulted around for ideas. Discovered a great new vegetarian cookbook on our own
new book shelf that had escaped our notice since its arrival, in which a pressure cooker
recipe suggested that oatmeal might help thicken the soup. Our concoction seems rather
thick on its own and so probably does not need this ingredient, but it can't do any harm.
More fiber. And bob had read somewhere about roasting veggies to "bring out their
flavor." So that idea was also added to the list.
ingredients
- roasted veggie group
- 1 medium butternut squash, cut lengthwise in half
- 1 leek, trimmed of the unusable parts
- 1 large carrot, peeled
- 1 large celery stalk
- 1 large whole onion with skin
- 1 small whole head garlic, cut open across top
- olive oil spray
- freshly ground black pepper
- broth group
- 2 c boiling water plus 2 t veggie broth paste
- 1/4 c Quaker oats
- 3 c lowfat milk (Lactaid if ...)
- spice group
- 1/2 t white pepper
- black pepper to taste, freshly ground
- salt to taste
instructions
- Place the cleaned whole veggies on a cookie sheet (we lined it with aluminum foil) and
spray with olive oil and grind black pepper over them. Roast 1 hour at 350°, then food
process with 1 c milk.
- Meanwhile add the broth paste to 2 c boiling water and then the oats and continue
boiling maybe 15, 20 minutes. Puree with a hand blender if oats are not convincingly soft.
- Combine with pureed veggies and remaining milk and spices and hand blend smooth.
- Heat through and serve.
notes
- The day before we had had a bowl of some wonderful thick carrot bisque with red pepper
sauce swirled on top. So we found a jar of red pepper paste in supplies and used that as a
serving garnish. Good contrast.
- We were happy campers after this.
- When we reheated the leftover soup, we added some milk to loosen it up a bit, since it
naturally thickens in the fridge. This thickening characteristic makes it a possible
candidate for a pasta sauce. Why not?