Recipe: Butternut-Sweet Potato Soup

recipelink.com Chat Room Recipe Swap - 2001-02-27
From: Kelly~WA

Butternut-Sweet Potato Soup

1 large butternut squash (2 to 2-1/2 pounds) halved lengthwise and seeded
1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound) pierced a few times with a fork
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 cut fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Freshly milled black pepper
Sour cream (optional)
Chopped Fresh chives or parsley (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Place the butternut squash cut side down on a baking dish. Pour about 1/2 inch boiling water into the pan. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until it can easily be pierced with a fork. Reserve any leftover cooking liquid. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bake the sweet potato directly on the oven rack alongside the squash for 45 to 60 minutes, or until it can easily be pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool. You can also bake it for longer (until the squash is done); its flavor will be even sweeter.

Use a large spoon to scrape the flesh out of the squash and into a large bowl. Pierce the skin of the sweet potato with a knife and, gripping the skin between your thumb and flat part of the knife blade, gently peel it back from the flesh, working around the potato, not down its length.

Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion is almost translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the ginger and saute, stirring constantly, until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes more. Add enough water to the squash-cooking liquid to equal 4 cups. Add this liquid and the orange juice to the pot and remove from heat.

Add the squash and sweet potato to the onion mixture and mix well. Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy, in batches if necessary. Return the puree to the pot and reheat over low heat, whisking occasionally. Stir in the maple syrup and pepper.

Taste and adjust the seasonings. Divide the soup among individual bowls and garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, if using, swirling it through the soup. Sprinkle with the chives or parsley, if desired. Serve.

[From "3 Bowls Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery" by Seppo Ed Farrey with Myochi Nancy O'Hara, Houghton Mifflin Company 2000]