A velvety French-style butternut squash soup, thickened with potato and finished with crème fraîche and nutmeg.
The evenings are getting shorter, it’s dark before dinner, and suddenly the craving for a thick soup is back. This one arrives a deep orange, thick and smooth, with the mellow, nutty flavor of butternut squash, ever so lightly brightened by the nutmeg.
Crème fraîche rounds it out, toasted squash seeds add crunch, and a final grind of pepper gives it just the right kick. You finish your bowl already thinking about the second one.
What Is Butternut Squash Soup?
It’s a smooth, creamy member of the fall vegetable soup family. Butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes, cooks with a potato, an onion and garlic in vegetable broth, then everything is blended with crème fraîche until smooth. Its skin stays tough even after long cooking, hence the peeling.
That’s the big difference from red kuri squash soup, which is cooked with the skin on.
In France, it’s also called a butternut velouté. The word comes from one of the mother sauces of French cuisine, a white stock thickened with a roux and a cousin of béchamel sauce. Applied to soup, it now means something blended very finely and softened with cream.
A Squash Born in Massachusetts
Butternut is a recent squash. Charles Leggett, an amateur plant breeder from Stow, Massachusetts, developed it in 1944 while looking for a squash that was smaller and easier to prepare than the big squashes of the day. He named it butternut, as in butter and nut, for its smooth flesh and sweet flavor.
Squash soup, on the other hand, goes back much further in France. La Varenne was already including a pumpkin soup made with milk in Le Cuisinier françois in 1651. When butternut squash reached European markets, it found its place in these soups, with flesh that is denser, less watery and sweeter than pumpkin.
The Main Ingredients in Butternut Squash Soup
A butternut squash weighing about 1.2 kg forms the base. This fall vegetable has sweet orange flesh that falls apart as it cooks. A medium potato thickens the soup with its starch, with no flour or added starch. Yellow onion and garlic provide the aromatic base, cooked gently without browning, a far cry from the crispy fried garlic of Asian cooking.
The vegetables cook in a liter of vegetable broth after a quick turn in olive oil. Thick crème fraîche gives the soup its soft, creamy body. A pinch of nutmeg and some pepper are all the seasoning it needs, and the salt only goes in at the end.
To serve, add a swirl of crème fraîche, some toasted squash seeds and a twist of the pepper mill. The butternut’s own seeds do the job nicely: rinsed, dried, then toasted for 5 minutes in a frying pan. Slices of toast rubbed with garlic turn it into a complete meal.
Technique Pointers for a Velvety-Smooth Soup
The onion and garlic sweat for 3 minutes over low heat until translucent, without taking on any color. The squash and potato cubes then spend 2 minutes in the oil before the broth goes in.
The soup simmers, covered, for 25 minutes. The squash is done when the cubes offer no resistance at all to a fork.
The crème fraîche goes in off the heat, before blending. Blend for a good long while: the longer you blend, the silkier the soup. Only salt it at this point, after tasting, since the broth is already salted.
Ingredients
Preparing the Vegetables
- 1 butternut squash about 1.2 kg, preferably organic
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 potato medium (about 150 g)
Cooking
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 L vegetable broth
- 1 pinch nutmeg grated
- Pepper
Blending and Seasoning
- 15 cl thick crème fraîche
- Salt
Finishing
- Pumpkin seeds toasted
Instructions
Preparing the Vegetables
- Peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler: its skin stays tough even after long simmering.1 butternut squash
- Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
- Cut the flesh into 2 to 3 cm cubes.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion and garlic.1 yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Peel the potato and cut it into chunks.1 potato
Cooking
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sweat the onion and garlic for 3 minutes, until translucent, without letting them brown.
- Add the butternut and potato cubes.
- Stir for 2 minutes to coat them well in the oil.
- Pour in the vegetable broth.1 L vegetable broth
- Add the grated nutmeg and pepper, but no salt at this stage.1 pinch nutmeg, Pepper
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, until the squash cubes are tender and offer no resistance at all to a fork.
Blending and Seasoning
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the crème fraîche off the heat to preserve its creaminess.15 cl thick crème fraîche
- Blend thoroughly with an immersion blender or in a countertop blender until perfectly smooth and velvety: the longer you blend, the silkier the soup.
- Taste, then season with salt to taste and adjust the pepper if needed: this is the only time the soup gets salted.Salt
Finishing
- Pour into well-warmed bowls.
- Add a drizzle of crème fraîche.
- Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.Pumpkin seeds
- Add a twist of the pepper mill.
- Serve piping hot.
- Serve with slices of toasted bread rubbed with garlic for a complete meal.
