in the kitchen with: amy ruppel

amy ruppel was born and raised in rural wisconsin, where she drew among the birds and greenery.  today she draws those birds and greenery to remind herself of home.  amy lives in beautiful portland, oregon, and works as a full-time artist and illustrator in her new massive 1200sq ft studio that she shares with the gifted evan b. harris.  today she’s sharing her recipe for roasted butternut squash, onion and garlic soup- perfect for a rainy winter day like today.  click here for the full recipe or click “read more” below.  enjoy! – kristina

• Cut a butternut squash in half, and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits.  Peel the skin off with a good sharp peeler.  Peel some of the flesh into long thin pieces and set aside.  Dice both halves into 1 inch hunks and place into a large baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and spices to taste.  I like to use Penzey’s “Northwoods Fire” and a little garlic powder for extra kick.  Place onto bottom rack of hot oven. 

• Rough chop the onion and place into a baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I like to use Penzey’s “Sunny Paris” Seasoning as well.  Place into oven above squash.  You can also pan fry the onions if you prefer (or have a really tiny oven). 

• Cut the top of a garlic bulb and place into a nest of foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and wrap up.  Place onto rack in oven. 

• Read a book or do some sketches while the squash, onion and garlic is roasting and filling your house with amazing aromas… or poke at that blister you got while peeling the squash. 

• During the last 15 minutes of cooking, toss the strips of squash with some olive oil and place them in a single layer into a pan lined with foil.  Cook on top oven rack next to onions until crisp (we’ll use this for garnish later). 

• When onion tips are browned and caramelized and the squash is tender, remove both and the garlic foil package from oven and allow to cool slightly.  Remove the squash strips and carefully peel them up from the foil and place onto a paper towel (taste the crispy brown bits – tastes like sweet potato chips – YUM!) 
Turn off that oven because you’re done with it. 

• While that’s cooling, go back to your book or sketches.  Amaze in bewilderment at how that blister on your finger reformed so quickly. 

• Put the roasted squash and onions into a large, high-walled stock pot.  Squeeze the cooled garlic right from the bulb and into the pot.  Add one quart of the broth (you can use stock as well). 

• Use a stick blender to chop up the ingredients in the pot. ( If you don’t have a stick blender, you can puree it in batches using a blender or Cuisinart.)  Once pureed, add second qt of broth to pot and puree again until smooth (If you want thicker soup, add only half of the second quart.) 

• Pour contents through a strainer and into another large pot.  This removes the tough bits that wouldn’t blend.  Reserve the unstrained squash and onions for another time – makes a great bechamel lasagna or ravioli filling! 

• Place pot of strained soup onto burner at medium heat and heat it on up for lunch or supper.  Garnish with a dollop of crème fraîche, some fresh herbs (summer savory is great), and a few slivers of roasted squash strips.  Enjoy! 

Makes one HUGE pot of soup!  About 3 1/2 qts (3.3L). 

About this recipe:

I chose this recipe because I love cozy soup in the Fall and Winter, and have made 2 batches so far.  Even though the sun is still shining, I can feel that cool crispness in the air that tells me it’s soup time

Thanks for the recipe!  I love butternut squash soup, and it was great timing, because I just came home from shopping with a squash. 

When I make my soup I add caraway seeds and bay leaves to it (I just sautee the onions, garlic and squash pieces in oil, add the caraway seeds and bay leaves, and add enough water to cover it), and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder before blending it (take out the bay leaves though). 

ok to start i will say the soup looks amazing!  and i love squash like a bee loves honey, so it’s one i’ll have to try. 

but also, speaking of portland…i swear at some point i saw a guide of sorts (maybe not a full blown guide) to shops in pdx on d*s.  maybe it was on the guest blog?  i’m going soon and want to make sure i don’t miss anything great.  does anyone else remember this? 

Hi all!  Today in Portland it’s a PERFECT day for this soup!  I’ll have to make another batch… You can use any squash – all will be good (especially pumpkin).  The the bowls are old ARABIA Ruska “cereal” bowls.  You can always find them listed on ebay.  I love their color, heftiness and large flat rim.  Enjoy!! 

I can’t speak for Amy, but I can say that I make a similar soup , but I don’t roast the squash first.  I use the different ‘variations’ of the family, pumpkin included, but my favorite is the Acorn squash for its compact pulp (flesh)! 

This soup looks wonderful!  And I just happen to have a gaggle of butternut squash in the pantry begging to be eaten–along with everything else on the ingredient list which is pretty much a miracle for me.  Thanks! ; ) 

funny enough, right after this post, on saturday morning, the JAMIE AT HOME episode was all about squash.  He made a bunch of stuff using different types, and he said you don’t have to remove the ‘peel’ of the butternut squash because it gets soft and chewy and wonderful (his words)!!  i never knew that!  i never tried! 

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