Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
This is a deliciously creamy soup full of nice flavor. Great for a chilly Fall day. I cooked and cooled the squash the night before to save time, and an immersion blender would have been helpful.
This is a deliciously creamy soup full of nice flavor. Great for a chilly Fall day. I cooked and cooled the squash the night before to save time, and an immersion blender would have been helpful.
- Carbohydrate 41.804892 g
- Cholesterol 8.813 mg
- Fat 18.205802 g
- Fiber 5.64990000629425 g
- Protein 9.13027 g
- Saturated Fat 14.2336646 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (546g)
- Sodium 318.5614 mg
- Sugar 36.1549919937058 g
- Trans Fat 1.1925566 g
- Calories 341 calories
Step-by-step
- In a medium-sized soup pot, saute onion in butter
- Add garlic and stir
- Add squash and stir
- Pour in chicken stock and mix well
- Simmer for 20 minutes
- Pour in coconut milk and stir well
- In batches, blend until smooth in Cuisinart or blender. (You can also use an immersion blender.)
- Season with salt and black pepper to taste
- Pierce the squash skin all over with a fork, place in a glass baking dish with a couple inches of water, and bake at 400* for approximately 45 minutes, or until inside is tender. The water will catch any syrupy drippings from the squash. When done, scoop out the fleshy inside, and discard seeds and skin.
Vibrant orange and glossy with fat droplets from the coconut milk, this purée offers a velvety texture that coats the back of a spoon. Roasting the squash whole or halved until the flesh yields completely to the gentle pressure of a metal skewer ensures the natural starches convert fully into rich sugars without scorching. When testing doneness at the forty-five-minute mark in a 400-degree oven, look for caramelized edges where natural juices leaked onto the baking dish. Simmering the aromatics in butter before introducing the stock builds a foundational savory depth that offsets the natural sweetness of the cucurbit family.
Judging Doneness and Texture
Achieving a completely smooth suspension requires deliberate control during the blending phase. Working in small batches prevents hot liquids from expanding and forcing the blender lid off under pressure. Process the mixture until no fibrous strands remain visible against the sides of the container. Simmering the soup for precisely twenty minutes after adding the stock allows the proteins and starches to marry without breaking down the fresh qualities of the dairy or coconut fats.
- Avoid boiling the coconut milk aggressively after it enters the pot, as high heat can cause the proteins to curdle and separate into an oily film.
- Never crowd the blender jar past the halfway mark when processing hot liquids.
- Add the finishing salt incrementally after the final blend rather than at the beginning, because reduction during simmering concentrates salinity.
