Ingredients
Vegetable Stock:
- 1 Spanish onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
- 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 6 parsley sprigs
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 black peppercorns
- 6 cups cold water
Directions
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer for 1 hour. Strain into a bowl.
Soup:
- 2 butternut squash, halved and seeded
- 3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable stock, recipe above
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Pinch saffron
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- Pinch cloves
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche
- 2 teaspoons harissa
- Almond croutons, recipe follows
- Finely chopped chives
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place squash in a baking dish and brush the cut side with the softened butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in the oven covered for 20 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove the squash from the oven and scoop out the pulp from the skin. Place the squash in a large saucepan and add the stock. Simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer in batches to a blender and strain through a chinois into a medium saucepan. Heat the olive oil in a small saute pan, add the saffron and saute for 30 seconds add the water and bring to a boil. Add the saffron mixture to the soup and season with the spices and cook for 10 minutes, adding more stock or water, if necessary. Remove from the heat and whisk in the creme fraiche and harissa and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle into bowls and float a few croutons on top. Garnish with finely sliced chives.
Toasted Almond Croutons:
- French baguette, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- Olive oil
- Spanish paprika
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Brush bread slices with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika on 1 side. Bake in the oven on a baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, or lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with almonds.
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By missmillie01
Wildwood, MO
on November 21, 2010
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I changed this up a bit,to lessen the work, I used veggie stock (3 cubes to 3 cups water onion, spices, 3 lg staks celery - whole and squash, garlic ina pressure cooker!! Cooked onhigh 8 mins. put ing. in batches in food prossesor to cream, added 1/2 n 1/2 and thinned it out with more sotck. will make ccroutons Absoluetly delicious, took about an hour total.
By geneannking_5528681
WAPPINGERS FALL...
on February 15, 2010
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This turned out to be a bit more work than I anticipated but it was worth it. I made it for a party and served it in mugs but forgot the croutons. No one missed them and EVERYBODY who tried it, went back for more. I will do it again and plan my time a bit better. It is nice to have a little left over so I can have some more tonight. Thanks BF for a great recipe.
By tlsdmdsam_2919814
Timonium, MD
on February 01, 2010
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I love butternut squash and also all those non meat noodle soups. Trusting in Bobbie Flay, I tried this recipe. It's time consuming the first time if you make the veggie stock from scratch and the harissa paste from scratch. But if you make an extra large batch of stock and freeze it-no problem. There's enough harissa to last quite a while. The only thing I did differently was add more harissa. I wanted the soup a little warmer. Perhaps ready made is hotter. This is personal taste of course. And the croutons were a great compliement as the Spanish paprika is smokey. I am making the soup for the second time right now....Enjoy!
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