Tag Archives: Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash, Pear + Curry Brown Butter Soup

This soup. It has been my go-to since late September when butternut squash first started popping up. I am in love with this soup. There are so many butternut squash soup recipes out there, so I don’t know just how to convince you that this is the one to make, but know I believe that you’d be happy if you do!

Some reasons to try this soup:

1. This soup is simple. It uses fewer than ten ingredients (not including dried spices) and requires no complicated methods or tools.

2. It’s butternut squash soup. With pears. And curry brown butter. Those flavors, in every single bite. I feel like I don’t need to say more.

3. This soup will warm you to the core on this chilly autumn days.

While there is really nothing complicated about this recipe, here are a few notes to keep in mind:

– The curry brown butter is from this recipe, from 101 Cookbooks. I felt inspired to put the curry brown butter from their lentil soup into this soup and I’m awfully glad that I did. Brown butter is not hard to make, and is more than worth the small amount of effort. Read my description below on how to make brown butter, or for a very detailed description of it, with photos, click here.

-Use any type of pear that you have. Don’t be picky. For this batch of soup, I used pears that I had sliced and frozen earlier in the season, and that worked wonderfully. For past batches of this soup, I used fresh, chopped pears.

-This soup can be left chunky (like in the photos) by using a potato masher to “mash” the soup. If you desire a much smoother soup, use an immersion or regular blender to blend the soup until smooth. I’ve blended it before and enjoyed it that way, too.

-Speaking of leaving it chunky, I haven’t tried it yet, but I think the chunky version would go wonderfully over rice.

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Butternut Squash, Pear + Curry Brown Butter Soup
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Ingredients
  1. Olive oil
  2. 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  3. 4 large carrots, sliced thin
  4. 1 large butternut squash, cubed
  5. 4 medium pears, chopped
  6. 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  7. 3-4 cups vegetable broth
  8. 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, onion powder, black pepper and cumin
  9. 1/2 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon curry powder, used separately
  10. 3 tablespoons butter
  11. Salt, to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
Instructions
  1. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onions and carrots. Cook, stirring several times, for about 5 minutes, or until veggies begin to soften.
  2. Add butternut squash and pears to the pot and stir. Cook 10 minutes longer, or until squash begins to soften and everything is slightly browned.
  3. Add the fresh, minced garlic and the 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, onion powder, black pepper, cumin and curry powder. Stir well, then add 3 cups of veggie broth.
  4. Bring soup to a boil, then turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all veggies are very soft.
  5. While the soup is simmering, make the curry brown butter. Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Let butter melt completely, while whisking constantly, until you see brown specks appear. Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder and whisk a few more times. Remove from heat and set aside.
  6. Once soup is done simmering (veggies are soft) add the curry brown butter to the soup pot.
  7. Using a potato masher, mash everything together well to make a chunky soup. Alternatively, using a immersion or regular blender, blend soup until smooth.
  8. Give the soup a taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking. Add some salt, more broth or other seasonings if you desire.
  9. Enjoy!
The Dreaming Foodie https://www.thedreamingfoodie.com/

Cacio e Pepe with Roasted Butternut Squash

I’m not trying to get all fancy on you.

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Trust me. I’m not an expert on cacio e pepe. I didn’t even know what that meant probably a year ago.

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But I’ve been reading about it. It’s a classic recipe from Rome. Cacio e pepe translates to cheese and pepper. And it really is that simple. Pasta with cheese and pepper. Simplicity at its finest. 

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I have never been to Italy, but from what I read and see, authentic Italian food is truly simplicity at its finest. Few, simple ingredients that go very very well together. 

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And that’s what appeals to me about cacio e pepe. Cheese is wonderful and so is pepper. This dish brings out the best of both of those flavors.

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So, I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong by adding something to this simple, classic pasta dish. I added roasted butternut squash. I thought it sounded good. And it is, it works. I will say though, I am sorry if I am offending any authentic Italian cooks by doing this. This is just my take on it :). 

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Let’s talk about the butternut squash. I got this one from the garden of Greg’s mom and stepdad. Can’t get better than that. His stepdad, Greg, told me that he was looking for a recipe for butternut squash on my blog. I do have this butternut squash bread pudding recipe, but he was right when he said that that recipe is a bit more complicated. He wanted something simple, and that made me want something more simple, too. Enter: this pasta. 

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The most difficult part of this dish was cutting the butternut squash. Does anyone out there have a trick to cutting one? If you do, please let me know!

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Once it is cut, all you need to do it roast it. While your squash is roasting, you can prepare the pasta. Roast the squash, cook the noodles, add some cheese, pepper and a few other things, toss with the squash and you’re done. 

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Roasted butternut squash on its own is really good as a side dish or a snack, but in this pasta it is awesome. It turns into a meal.

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The key to this pasta is the reserved cooking water. After your noodles are done cooking, make sure you reserve a bowl full of the water. Adding it back into the pasta creates a super creamy sauce without adding any cream. Other than the cheese, pepper and butternut squash, I also added some white wine and a pinch of nutmeg. You can’t go wrong with adding wine to pasta, I think, and I love how nutmeg tastes with butternut squash.

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So, you guys, I do hope that you get to try this pasta. It is such a delicious dish, and an easy one to make any day of the week! 

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Cacio e Pepe with Roasted Butternut Squash
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Ingredients
  1. 1 large butternut squash, or 3-4 cups diced butternut squash
  2. Olive oil
  3. 1 package spaghetti noodles
  4. 1/2 cup white wine + a little more
  5. 1 garlic clove, minced
  6. 2 tablespoons butter
  7. 1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  8. 1/2 - 1 tablespoon black pepper
  9. Salt
  10. Nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400*.
  2. Start by cutting the butternut squash. Alternatively, you could buy the pre-cut butternut squash. You are looking for a 1/4 inch dice.
  3. Place the butternut squash in a bowl, drizzle it with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.
  4. Roast in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.
  5. While the butternut squash is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  6. Add the spaghetti noodles, 1/2 cup white wine and minced garlic clove to the water.
  7. Boil according to package instructions.
  8. This is important: make sure to reserve a bowl full of pasta cooking water when you drain the noodles. I placed my strainer on top of a bowl.
  9. When the noodles and squash are done, place 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pot you cooked the noodles in.
  10. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper and stir.
  11. Remove the pot from the heat and add the noodles, cheese, 1 cup cooking water, another splash of wine (if desired), a pinch of salt and nutmeg.
  12. Toss everything together.
  13. Taste, and add more pepper, cheese, salt, wine, nutmeg, or cooking water, until you reach a taste and texture you are happy with.
  14. Enjoy!
The Dreaming Foodie https://www.thedreamingfoodie.com/