(I) Love Soup: Warming up with Anna Thomas
I had been hearing buzz about Anna Thomas’ cookbook, “Love Soup,” when I picked it up for a friend for her birthday in January. It was all I could do to actually *give* her the book — it looked wonderful. Green soups, bean soups, creamy potage and all manner of sides, from kale salad to salsa.
Thomas is also the author of “The New Vegetarian Epicure,” which is now vying with “Love Soup” for the cookbook I’m going to be buying on March 11 (a personal holiday, called “Buy a New Cookbook Day”).
To narrow down which cookbook I really wanted more, I checked both out from the library and paged through them, pulling out recipes and making shopping lists. I decided to try a squash/celery root soup first (I love celeriac), then a poblano-yam soup and a wilted kale salad with cranberries for a side.
Alas, when I returned home, arms full of ingredients, P had helpfully taken “Love Soup” back to the library. It was on a short loan, and he was avoiding a 25 cent fine. I pouted (a little) and then scoured the internet. Somebody made that squash soup already, right?
And God bless Anna Thomas, she had posted the recipe on her Facebook page. Huzzah! I was off and running again.
Thomas writes:
A rich and lovely soup for the harvest season, this gets its complex flavor from the subtle layering of celery root and turnip under the sweet, golden Kabocha squash. The browned butter and maple syrup stirred in at the end turn these simple ingredients into a luxury soup. If Kabocha squash cannot be found, butternut squash is usually available and reliably good, and can be used instead.
I started with a homemade vegetable broth (helpfully printed on page 47) which I had made the night before. It works very well to do both, since the stock asks for the parts of the veggies you don’t use otherwise — tops of fennel, tops of leeks, etc. — as well as easy-to-find veg like celery, carrots, parsnips and turnips.
For the soup, I substituted the half of a butternut squash that was waiting in my fridge and subbed in carrots for turnips, which I used the last of to make the stock (oops). I had a little trouble browning the butter, too. How do you know if it’s brown if it’s in a black saucepan? Also: forgot to whisk it. So it probably wasn’t brown, but whatever, I dumped it in.
I topped the soup with toasted walnut oil because I had it and I figured I should probably compensate for the non-nutty butter. The final soup tasted fabulous — creamy, rich and filling, just the thing for a chilly almost-spring day.
As for which cookbook I’m getting, the jury’s still out. I’ll let you know next week, after I’ve made a few dishes from “The New Vegetarian Epicure.”
Kabocha Squash and Celery Root Soup with maple syrup and browned butter
Recipe from “Love Soup” by Anna Thomas (2009). Serves 6-7 (about 10 cups).
- 1 Kabocha squash, 2½ lbs. whole
- 1 medium celery root, 12 oz. whole
- 3 medium turnips, 12 oz.
- 1 ½ Tbs. olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp. sea salt, more to taste
- 2 leeks, white and light green only, 1 ½ cups chopped
- 1 large yellow onion
- a good pinch of rosemary leaves
- 2-3 cups light vegetable broth
- 2-3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, more to taste
- pinch of hot paprika or cayenne
- 3 Tbs. pure maple syrup
- 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
- garnish: 3/4 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted (75 g.)
- additional fruity olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400˚. Cut the Kabocha squash in half with a very sharp knife, scrape out the seeds and strings, and place the halves cut-side down on a lightly oiled non-stick baking sheet. Peel the turnips and cut them in wedges. Peel the celery root and cut it in 1” pieces. Toss the turnips and celery root with about half a tablespoon of the olive oil and a pinch of sea salt., and spread them on another baking sheet.
Roast all the prepared vegetables in the hot oven for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until the squash gives easily when poked with a wooden spoon, and the turnips and celery root are tender and flecked with dark brown. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop it out of its shell.
While those vegetables are roasting, cut the leeks in half lengthwise, wash them thoroughly and slice thinly, using only the white and very light green parts. Chop the onion and sauté it gently in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, with a dash of salt and the rosemary, until it is soft and golden brown.
In a soup pot, combine the roasted squash, turnips, celery root, leeks and sautéed onions with 4 cups water and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer the vegetables, covered, about twenty minutes to let them get perfectly soft. Add two cups vegetable broth, two tablespoons fresh lemon juice, a pinch of hot paprika and 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup.
Allow the soup to cool somewhat, then puree it in a blender or in the pot with an immersion blender. The various flavors in this soup are better when blended into one harmonious new flavor, but you can make the texture of the soup whatever you like. I prefer this as a silky smooth soup, but you can stop at a rougher puree if you like. Add a little more vegetable broth if the soup is too thick to pour easily from a ladle. Return the soup to a clean pot and bring it back to a simmer.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Lower the heat and keep cooking the butter for a few minutes, stirring with a whisk, until it is a light golden brown. Stir the browned butter into the soup.
Taste the soup, and correct the seasoning, whisking in more salt, lemon juice, or maple syrup as needed. This last step is essential, as Kabocha squashes can vary in sweetness, and lemons certainly vary in acidity. And as always, when working on the sweet-sour balance you reach that point where only a good pinch of salt will make it right.
Drizzle a thin thread of olive oil on top of each serving of this soup, and then sprinkle it with a spoonful of toasted, chopped pecans.
The soup sounds amazing! And I definitely love the cookbook!