WhirlwinDISH 9

I thought to make pasta when I picked up butternut squash at my local food co-op, Food Conspiracy. But, I ended up with soup and a curry sauce instead. I was in the mood for a simple curry sauce to go with some grains and veggies. On a whim, I thought the squash might give me the creamy base I was looking for with fewer calories (but with lots of flavor and nutrients, fiber, etc.). The soup came as a result of me wanting to get 2 different uses out of the same base. It was awfully hot for this type of soup, though. I will remember it when winter rolls around.

I made the base for this soup and sauce by roasting butternut squash, garlic, onion, celery, and ginger. I blended this base with cumin, ground red pepper, turmeric, and water until it was pretty thin. For the sauce: I sautéed a bit of tomato paste until it had a nice caramelization, added the base, then seasoned with ground mustard, ground coriander, and black pepper. I let it reduce until it was pretty thick. I reduced the soup portion just until it reached a little thicker consistency, simmering awhile to meld the flavors. I decided to throw in a few black beans, as I had an abundance (see my post about the beans here) and finished with creme fraiche.

The sauce, indeed, gave me the creaminess I was looking for without loading down my veggies and grain with a lot of cals. I love rich, creamy sauces, but this day, I just wanted something lighter. I also used this base to replace cream in an onion tartlette, add a little extra depth to a tomato pasta sauce, to flavor chickpeas, as well as add zip to veggies for spring rolls. Hopefully, I will post more about that soon. Soup was delish, but it will most likely be in my winter rotation.