Winter Squash Soup

This is a recipe for a creamy squash soup. It is delicious, and will definitely fill you up on a cold day.

At the Saturday farmer's market here in New Orleans there is a vendor with an abundance of heirloom winter squash varieties.  For this soup I picked out the wartiest looking squash I've yet to see: Galeux d'Eysines, an heirloom French variety dating from the 1880s. I figure the uglier the beast, the tastier its flesh... The one I picked out was one of the smaller ones, weighing only 8 pounds--yes, I weighed it!  You could easily keep this as a decorative centerpiece on your dining table until you work up the courage to cook it (although it's not known for long keeping).

Ingredients
1/4 Galeux d'Eysines (You can substitute an entire Kabocha, sweet dumpling, or buttercup squash, cut in half and then follow directions)
2 large shallots
Whole Milk
Heavy cream
Buttermilk
4 cloves Garlic
Olive oil
Herbes de Provence
Salt, pepper & fresh ground nutmeg to taste

Roasting Squash
Preheat oven to 375. Scoop out all of the seeds and stringy insides. Rub the squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence.  Place with one cut side down. If using a smaller squash such as butternut, cut in half and put cut side down. Roast until just tender when pricked with a knife. Let cool. Scoop out flesh and toss the skins. (Once finished cooking, and removed from oven, I turn the oven off and put in the pumpkin seeds tossed with a bit of salt. They will cook slowly and be perfect to eat once the oven cools.)

Making Soup
In a large pot (Le Creuset or cast iron dutch oven type), saute saute shallots in olive oil. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the garlic just turns translucent. Add the pumpkin meat. Cook to integrate and turn the pumpkin to mash. Add milk, cream, and a small amount of buttermilk. Add water if necessary.  Add a drizzle of sherry vinegar and/or Balsamic vinegar to taste.

You can garnish this with jumbo lump crab meat if you have some on hand. Tonight I used roasted pumpkin seeds because that's what I had available.

Pairing Suggestions: My standard pairing for winter squash soup is Riesling.  I just love the way the squash and sweeter Riesling work together. Of course a dry Riesling will work just as well as a sweeter one.