Butternut Squash Soup with Blood Orange and Honey Glazed Water Chestnuts
Oct 30, 2010 at 0:01 
Okie dokie, as promised, here's the soup I made that was inspired by Chef Fraser's Roasted Squash and Chestnut Soup. As you know I'm more apt to pull out a cookbook and follow a recipe before I am willing to "play" with a recipe, especially one without measurements for the ingredients. Today's self-imposed cooking challenge was nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at the same time! I have to admit that always using a recipe is a bit like having a crutch in the kitchen to lean on. So as I'm expanding my cooking skills I'm beginning to take more chances. Are you? I hope so. Come on we'll do this together.
I am finding that my own cooking philosophy includes using ingredients that are already in my kitchen, or at the very least easily found in the markets close to my home. Oh sure there are times when I'll go out of my way for an ingredient when I have the time, but overall I'm learning to make adjustments to recipes by using what's on hand. What was on hand and easily acquired when I wanted to make Chef Fraser's soup? Butternut squash! I even found a package of pre-cut butternut squash - SCORE! Acorn squash was available, but it's not my favorite, so I passed. In fact I like butternut squash so much I decided to keep things simple and just use the butternut squash this time around. Next I was hoping to locate some frozen chestnuts. It turns out, after talking to the managers of the markets near home, that frozen chestnuts won't arrive for another week or so. The farmers market wasn't going to be open until 3pm the next day, and I had to get my cooking done in the morning, so it was time to think of something else. That something else turned out to be sitting on the shelf in the "Asian Foods" Aisle - canned water chestnuts. Why not!? They, like a chestnut, have a slightly sweet nutty flavor, too. Now I was really feeling my moxie. But I was still trying to figure out what to do just a little bit differently, some way of putting my own little twist on this soup recipe. As I stood in my kitchen gathering all of the ingredients to make the soup I reached for my olive oil, and then it hit me....sitting in my pantry was a bottle of Blood Orange infused Olive Oil. That's it! That's the twist I put on this recipe! I had fun, and best of all my soup tasted good. Hooray!
I hope you are inspired to close your cookbook and give something new a try. Ah, go ahead, really it's great fun.
Here's what I did:
1. In a bowl, coat butternut squash with Blood Orange infused Olive Oil, ground sage, salt and pepper.
If you can't find precut squash cut your squash in half with skins on, scoop out the seeds, rub with olive oil and salt, place cut side down in a shallow pan with 1 cup of water, roast until soft, about 35-45 minutes in a preheated 325 oven. Let cool a bit before scooping out innards.
2. Place coated butternut squash on a shallow roasting pan, place in a 325 degree pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.
3. In a skillet heat Blood Orange Olive Oil, place drained water chestnuts in skillet, then pour honey on top of water chestnuts - saute' until browned.
4. In a stock pot, or dutch oven, sweat a large sweet onion in Blood Orange infused olive oil. After about 10 minutes add some ground sage.
5. Put glazed water chestnuts and roasted butternut squash into the pot (Reserve a few water chestnuts as garnish). Add chicken broth, enough to cover squash a couple of inches. Bring up to a low simmer, simmer until fully cooked and blended together.
6. Blend with a high speed blender, or in a high speed blender until squash and water chestnuts are a creamy consistency. If you prefer a smooth broth then be sure to strain this mixture. I prefer texture in my soup, so I choose to not use a strainer.
7. Place in a serving bowl, garnish with a glazed chestnut, and drizzle a few drops of the Blood Orange Olive Oil on top. Enjoy!
I hope this variation of Chef Fraser's Roasted Squash and Chestnut Soup inspires you to create your own soup recipe. If you do be sure to tell me about it. I'd love to let everyone know what you are up to in your kitchen, too!
Reader Comments (2)
What a wonderful soup. I love the color and I happen to love butternut squash. This is exactly my type of cooking. Use what's on hand. Improvise. Put your own twist on the recipe. The only issue I run into is when someone likes it and asks for the recipe, haha. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that.
Hi Hanaa! Welcome to the kitchen. It's nice having you visit. I'm so glad you are inspired by this recipe. I hope you make it. I'm still enjoying it days later. It's healthy, tasty, and like you point out a little bit of this and little bit of that. I'm really finding it's a lot of fun to "play" in the kitchen. Keep me posted on what you are doing, too!