Our CSA from the Natural Farm Stand in Richmond has been amazing. They give us recipes every week that include vegetables in that week’s basket. Last week, we got my new all time favorite fall recipe. It was a butternut squash and pear soup. Sadly, I kept the recipe, but not where they got the recipe from, so I am not able to credit properly. For that I am sorry. This recipe does call for a bit of half and half, for dairy free it can be easily switched to coconut milk.
Ingredients
1 lb butternut squash, trimmed and seeded
1 large yam
2 c vegetable broth
1 1/2 c water
1 stick cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
2 medium onions, sliced
3 large anjou or bartlett pears
1/3 c dry white wine
1/4 c half and half
white pepper to taste
optional garnish: chopped chives, or sprigs of cilantro
Directions:
Peel, seed, and dice the squash. Peel and dice the yam. Put them both in a pot with the vegetable broth, water, cinnamon stick, and salt. Simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.
Melt the butter and gently cook the onions in it, stirring occasionally, until it begins to caramelize. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears, and add them to the onions. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the pear mixture to the soup and puree everything in a blender in batches. Add the cream and some white pepper, and a bit more salt only if needed. Heat the soup again just to a simmer, but do not boil. Serve plain or garnished with chopped chives or sprigs of cilantro.