Whether it’s for the Thanksgiving table, or just a hearty autumn dish, this is the season of the squash. We’re talking the delightful vegetable squash, not the indoor racket game.
In the fall, we harvest several different varieties of “winter squash” – acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, etc. – much to the delight of chefs and cooks everywhere. Here at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, few chefs have mastered the art of cooking squash like Executive Chef Aram Mardigian of Wolfgang Puck American Grille.
Today, Aram is presenting Puck’s recipe for Pumpkin Soup. Yes, pumpkin qualifies as a type of squash and offers several different varieties that are perfect for cooking. For this recipe, Chef Aram is using a combination of butternut and kabocha squashes. Kabocha squash is also called the “Japanese pumpkin” and has an exceptional sweet flavor. Some say its reminiscent of a sweet potato crossed with a pumpkin.
Anyway, we’ll let Chef Aram explain how to make this seasonal classic in a brand new Savor Borgata video. Remember, savor the squash. ‘Tis the season.
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 1lb butter
- 3 whole butternut squash
- 1 whole kabocha squash
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, fresh ground
- 3-4 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 bunch sage
- salt (to taste)
- white pepper (to taste)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 quart chicken stock or water
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- With a chef knife cut each squash in half.
- Place in roasting pan with cavity side up and season with salt & pepper.
- Place one T of butter, a sage leaf & 1 T brown sugar in each cavity.
- Sprinkle some cardamom and fresh grated nutmeg over the squash.
- Pour 2 cups of water at base of pan.
- Cover the squash with parchment paper and foil, place in oven roast for 1 to 1 ½ hr.
- Squash should be tender.
- Scrape squash meat from skin.
- Over a medium flame in a 2 quart sauce pot, add ½ lb butter, melt to just browned.
- Add onion, cook the onion till translucent in the butter.
- Add the squash and chicken stock and simmer for 45 minutes on medium heat. Stir often.
- In a blender (in batches) blend the soup mixture until smooth.
- While blending, add about 1 cup of heavy cream to each blender batch. Adjust seasonings.
- To adjust the consistency more or less liquid as desired.
- Strain through a fine strainer pressing well to get the mixture fully through.
Wow, what a happy coincidence! I have some winter squash around and was trying to think of something different to do with it. I remembered the delicious soup my husband had last Fall when we ate at Wolfgang Puck’s American Grille while staying at the Borgata. I knew that the googles would find one of Chef Puck’s recipes, but did not expect the exact recipe from the restaurant where we enjoyed it so much!
Thank you for posting this! I’m going to tell my son about it, too. He loves to cook, and when we returned from AC we’d raved about our meals. He’ll be just as excited as I am to have one of the recipes!