Celebrate the Butternut

There's a great new restaurant in town, Wild Rocket. I've had some really yummy bites there, and highly recommend it (corner of Eureka and Pearl--you gotta try it).

Imagine my disappointment yesterday then, upon ordering a bowl of butternut squash soup and finding it completely unremarkable. The goat cheese-stuffed dates, pear arugula salad, and berry crumble were simply delightful. How could someone who knew how to create such flavors be content with such a bland bowl of soup? The waitress said it's really meant as a base for lobster (which I don't eat) but I still ask myself, why not celebrate the butternut???

I had the urge to slip him my recipe. I can't take credit for it (the LA Times can) but after having made it a zillion times I can vouch for its utter deliciousness. When my friend Lari had jaw surgery and was limited to what she could sip through a straw, a pot of this manna helped her survive.

This recipe taught me the magic of jalapeno. My first try, I forgot to buy it; the soup was still good enough to make again, and the second time it had the jalapeno, and wow, although I couldn't taste it, suddenly all the other flavors just danced in my mouth. Since then I've been adding it to all sorts of stews, pot roast, and more.

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¼ cup butter
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, chopped
1 1” piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded & chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
Sea salt to taste
2 lbs butternut squash, cubed
4 cups stock or water
½ cup cream (I use half and half, the original recipe calls for heavy cream)
Freshly ground white pepper

Melt butter over medium heat. Add leeks, celery, carrots, ginger, jalapeno, thyme, and salt. Cook, stirring sometimes, until veggies are wilted, about 10-15 mins.

Stir in squash and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to med/low, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until vegetables are falling-apart soft.

Puree with immersion blender (or in a blender or food processor).

Stir in cream.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve at once; or reheat gently if needed.

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I think maybe I was disappointed in Wild Rocket's version because I know what butternut can be. If the chef got a hold of this recipe the soup, while still working beautifully as a base for lobster, would be a star of the menu, all by itself.