Today marks the first day of winter for my local environment. Not some planetary equinox or giant red ‘X’ on a calendar. No, the first day of winter in my book is when it’s below freezing at high noon. We hit that today so let the cold weather cooking begin, Black Friday consumerism be damned.
Slowly simmered stews, sheet pans filled with cinnamon rolls, all-day Moroccan tagines, and everything that heats up the kitchen too much to attempt in July are put on hold until this time of year. It’s really the season for cooks. I didn’t have anything specific in mind before I saw the thermometer but I did have a spare butternut that was just begging to be roasted. Yes, I said roasted. If you’re not taking your root veg for a spin under the broiler from time to time you’re really missing out on the depth of flavour they can offer. Beets and whole cumin seeds stuck together with generous amounts of olive oil, thick hunks of eggplant dusted with cardamom and coriander destined for babaganoush, and of course hard squashes from acorn to pumpkin tossed with peppercorn, sea salt, and any final fresh herbs of the season all benefit from a dose of high, dry heat. Not only the vegetables themselves but the spices you partner with them. And don’t be afraid of scorched edges. That’s just pure flavour.
A chef friend with a fierce Basque heritage once taught me their classic regional pumpkin soup – served IN a pumpkin no less – which began with an entire second pumpkin hacked into great chunks and roasted on all sides under intense heat to develop flavour. In that case the flesh was scooped off the skins after the fact but depending on your end goals, you might want to peel certain varieties beforehand. The main goal is to get lots of surface area exposed to the roasting heat to caramelize the natural sugars and multiply the taste many fold. It was later blended smooth with saffron and sherry and served in the aforementioned lid-less pumpkin that had itself spent time basking in the dry heat of a high oven. Pure delight and just about everything you think of when it comes to Winter comfort food. I use ordinary bowls and more pedestrian butternut for my bisque but the end results are nearly as good on the spoon.
Of course the bonus while you have a hot sheet pan under the broil is in the seeds. Any fat squash seed will do. Just rinse them from the pulp under warm water and dry them on kitchen paper before spreading in a single layer to roast under the heat. Their natural oils will usually be enough but if you taste a sample and they’re a bit too dry a quick mist of any oil will help. Expect a few to pop like popcorn and remember to sea salt them while they’re still warm from the oven.
Butternut Saffron Bisque
Butternut alone can be too sweet once roasted so cutting it with more base root veg like turnip or potato brings it back to centre as does a small dose of fresh herbs tempered by the heat of the oven.
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into roughly 2″ cubes
1 large turnip or potato, peeled and cut into roughly 2″ cubes
2 + 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves *
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorn
20 saffron threads
2 ounces dry sherry
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed or minced
2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup 10% cream
additional sea salt to taste
* Or substitute any fresh herb available but avoid dried versions here. Sage and rosemary have both been tested with great results.
Toss squash and turnip or potato with two tablespoons oil and thyme in large bowl to coat. Place on baking pan and dust with sea salt and peppercorn. Place under broiler and roast until charred edges begin to show. Toss and continue to roast until color is developed on all sides.
Bonus: Rinse any seeds from the squash to remove pulp and dry roast them on the same pan shaking often to avoid burning. They will toast in a fraction of the time of the butternut flesh.
Crumble saffron with fingertips into sherry and allow to stand for ten minutes.
In heavy stockpot, sauté onion and garlic in remaining oil until translucent over medium heat, about four minutes. Add roasted vegetables, stock, and saffron mixture. Continue to simmer on medium-low heat for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend to smooth with an immersion or upright blender and adjust salt as needed. Finish with gently warmed cream just before serving. Garnish with dry roasted squash seeds in your most artistic manner.
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Alison Winters
1 December, 2015I can never seem to get all the “gook” off the seeds, either squash or pumpkin so when I do roast them , they are…..not visually appealing! Other than washing and tedious hand picking, any other suggestions?
Mr.Spork
1 December, 2015They can be a sticky mess but a trick I borrow from prepping tomato seeds helps a bit. After getting the biggest clumps of pulp off the seeds as best you can, put the whole lot into your largest bowl with plenty of water and let them soak for about an hour. This will help separate and ‘de-gum’ them with the seeds generally floating to the top. Some varieties of squash and pumpkin will still need some physical pulling and scrunching to get them to detach completely from stringy parts of the pulp but that’s the price you have to pay for fresh roasted seeds. The maturity of the pumpkin is also a factor – older & larger pumpkins mean bigger seeds.
After round one of soaking gets rid of most of the pulp, do the same thing over for another hour with fresh water trying to ‘scrub’ them a bit under running water on the way back into your bowl. A giant fine mesh strainer in the sink for this is handy and will save your seeds from the drain. That should leave you with fairly clean seeds. Pat them dry on kitchen paper and roast them right away. You don’t want wet seeds stored for any length of time unless you’re trying to sprout next year’s pumpkin patch on the counter.