Last Saturday Jenn Robbins was serving coffee-cured butternut squash at her pop-up at Morningside Farmers Market alongside spiced smoked brisket from Riverview. Wonder if the butternut were from Riverview as well.
I wasn’t able to get my share since I was headed to the Woodstock Farmers Market that morning so I don’t know what Jenn was doing to “coffee cure” the squash, but in doing a little research, I ran across this recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash and Coffee Soup which seemed like an interesting combination. It’s from www.abrowntable.com.
Apparently she created it as an ad for the cold brew coffee she mentions, but of course, there’s no reason not to just use a cold cup of your own brew. I also think I’ll try this with regular yellow onion. No need to go for red onion when it’s just going to be pureed. I don’t see that much difference in flavor. Also – why not just use the whole butternut? And finally, if you have an immersion blender, that’s the thing to use instead of moving that hot mixture to a stand blender.
Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 cup minced red onions 1 teaspoon cumin 6 black peppercorns 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves or powder 1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon sambal olek (optional) one 10.5 ounce bottle Califia cold brew single origin 6 to 8 whole fresh sage leaves 1/4 teaspoon Maldon salt flakes
Preparation:
Place a wire rack at midlevel in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
Take the butternut squash half, scoop out and discard the seeds and strings and place it in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until soft and tender. Remove from oven, tent with aluminum foil and allow to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes before handling. Once cooled, peel the skin off the squash and cut the squash into large chunks. Place the squash in a blender.
While the squash is cooking, take a 5 quart dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and set the heat to medium-high. Add the onions and sauté for about 10 minutes until they start to brown. Transfer the onion to the blender along with the cumin, peppercorns, powdered sage, salt, vinegar, sambal olek and coffee. Pulse until smooth. Transfer the soup to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and keep warm. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
In a small skillet, heat the remaining oil on medium-high heat. Rinse the sage leaves and pat them dry. Fry them in the hot oil until they turn crispy and the edges get slightly brown, this should take about a minute. Transfer the fried leaves to a paper towel to absorb the excess oil and sprinkle with the Maldon salt flakes. Garnish each serving of the soup with the fried leaves and a little extra olive oil.