A few years ago, my husband and I were out to dinner for our anniversary. We were served a small bowl of chilled kabocha squash soup with chives, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I figured it was time to try recreating it at home.
Plus, ’tis the season for squash recipes! This is a good one for the transition to Autumn … or whenever!
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup butter
3 cups kabocha squash, peeled and cubed
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup sake
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups milk
fresh cracked pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chives, chopped, plus more for garnish
Directions
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic, and sauté until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the kabocha squash, turmeric, and sherry vinegar and sake and cook for 3 more minutes. Pour in the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Allow the vegetables to soften in the liquid for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the milk and continue simmering for about 30 to 45 minutes to allow the liquid to reduce a little (depending on how thick you want the soup to end up. It becomes thicker as it cools.)
Remove from heat and blend — either use an immersion blender (easiest) or carefully transfer the contents into a blender. If using a blender, you may need to do this step in batches, pulsing the soup and leaving the air cap open to avoid burning yourself.
Strain the soup through fine mesh sieve into a container, to separate any fibrous solids. If you skip this part, your soup won’t be as smooth. Discard the solids. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary, Allow the soup to cool, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to redistribute hot spots. Stir in the 1/4 cup of chives. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with more chives.
My Costco carries this pre-cut kabocha squash. It comes with two 20-oz. packages, so I just used one of the packages for this recipe. I still had to peel the skin, but I think it was easier with it already being in chunks.
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