Recipe: Cocobutternut! 1 February 2007 10:33 am
Posted by Tracy in : coconut, cooking, recipes, soup, sundance, vegan, vegetarian , trackbackAll right, despite all the new-job-related excitement of the past few days, it’s still Coconut Appreciation Week here at TracyFood, oh yes.
At the Sundance kitchen, we’d get coconut milk in cans of two sizes: wee (14 ounce) and friggen huge (12+ cups). I’ve seen the latter at my friendly local Asian market, but thus far I’ve been able to resist, if only because leftover coconut milk is sort of a pain. It’ll keep for a few days in a jar in the fridge, and I’ve heard rumor it can be stored frozen, but eventually you need to use the leftovers from your standard 14 or 19 ounce can. Oregon Snow sorbet is one possible use, but if you have less than a cup, there’s also this soup, which is excellent even without the coconut milk. Cow’s milk or cream could be used in place of coconut milk if you’re really desperate to get some extra fat in there, but I promise you don’t need it: just the unadulterated gingery squash soup is pretty much pure awesomeness all on its own.
Ingredients and Equipment
- 2 delicata squash or one acorn squash or one very small butternut squash.
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced, OR 1 small onion and 1 shallot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (~2 TB)
- 1-2 inches fresh ginger root, grated (~1 TB)
- 4 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk
- salt to taste
- baking dish big enough to hold squash
- soup pot
- food processor or blender
What You Do
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds and guts, and place in a baking dish with maybe 1/4 inch water. Bake at least 30 minutes, until flesh is tender and yields to gentle pressure. (Alternatively, cover dish of squash with plastic wrap and microwave 5-10 minutes.)
- When squash is done, remove from oven and let cool. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients.
- As squash cools, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, shallot (if using), garlic, and ginger. Sauté these until aromatic and translucent (a little browning is A-OK!)
- When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the shell and into the soup pot. Stir in coconut milk, 1-2 cups stock, and the water left in the squash cooking pan. Remove soup from heat and blend everything thoroughly, before the mixture gets too hot.
- Return smooth, blended mixture to the soup pot and the heat, thin to desired consistency with the remaining stock, gently reheat until steaming hot, and enjoy.
Makes 2-4 servings of delicious, sweetly creamy soup in 30-60 minutes.
Comments»
Ooh, thank you for this recipe! I have 3/4 c coconut milk and a small butternut squash that I need to use within the next few days. This will be perfect!