Squash in general is a vegetable you can find in many cuisines, such as Asian, Oriental, or European cuisines. That’s why there are so many different recipes with this vegetable that you will make you travel in quite a few diverse places! Butternut squash is a type of squash that makes really nice soup.
So here I propose 3 different ways of seasoning a plain butternut squash soup in order to vary food pleasures!
Butternut soup: thai, fall & oriental versions
Ingredients
Ingredients for the soup basis
- 500 g butternut squash
- 1 large potato
- 1 carrot
- 1 l vegetable broth
- 1 pinch salt fleur de sel
Ingredients for a thai-style seasoning (quantities = 1/3 of the soup basis)
- 10 to 20 cl coconut milk
- fresh ginger
- fresh coriander leaves
- A handful of peanuts
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- Lime optional
Ingredients for an oriental-style seasoning (quantities = 1/3 of the soup basis)
- 1 to 2 tbsp orange or lemon zest
- 2 to 3 tsp candied lemon paste or tamarind
- sumac or zaatar
Ingredients for an autumn-style seasoning (quantities = 1/3 of the soup basis)
- 60 g mushrooms porcini, shiitake, button mushroom of your choice
- A small handful of hazelnuts
- A small handful of pumpkin seeds
- pumpkin seed oil
Instructions
Preparation of the soup
- Peel and cut the butternut squash into large cubes, as well as the potato and carrot.
- Pour the vegetables into a casserole and cover with hot vegetable stock.
- Cook for 30 minutes with a lid until the vegetables can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
- Remove several ladles of broth (keep the broth in a bowl for instance) and mix.
- Add some more broth if you prefer a more liquid soup.
- Add salt and mix.
- You have the base of your soup which you will be able to season according to different options described below!
Thai-style seasoning
- Gradually add the coconut milk to your soup, cooking over very low heat for a few minutes. Mix well to homogenize.
- Adjust the quantity of coconut milk according to whether you want a more or less pronounced taste and a rather thick or rather liquid soup.
- Finely chop 1 cm of fresh ginger and add it to the soup.
- Mix again and remove the soup from the heat.
- Just before serving, sprinkle with sesame seeds, peanuts and coriander leaves.
- You can squeeze a lime wedge into your soup bowl.
Oriental-style seasoning
- Add the candied lemon paste to your soup, adjusting the quantity according to your taste.
- Mix well to homogenize and cook over very low heat for a few minutes.
- Just before serving, zest half an orange or a lemon (use organic fruits), and add the zest into the soup.
- Sprinkle with sumac or zaatar, as much as you like!
Autumn-style seasoning
- Slice the mushrooms into strips and fry them in a pan with a little butter until they are softening.
- Just before serving the soup, pour the hot mushrooms into your soup bowl.
- Add a small drizzle of pumpkin seed oil, the pumpkin seeds and a few hazelnuts!
Notes
The quantity for the ingredients I gave for the each seasoning correspond to the quantity of 1/3 of the soup that you will obtain following the amount of ingredients I indicated.
Usually, I divide the soup in 3 batches so that I can make 3 different soups!