Dash and I brought butternut squash soup adapted from My Father's Daughter for the starter, Hilary & Colin made an amazing udon sea bass dish and for dessert we had Mark's famous Green Tea Cheesecake with hand-whipped whip cream. Yum!
The kids and grown ups ate all of the soup, it was a huge hit. Here's the recipe:
Butternut Squash Soup with Peas
Adapted from My Father's Daughter, organic ingredients used where possible
1 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbs butter (MFD calls for unsalted, I only had salted)
2 large red onions, peeled and roughly chopped (about 3 cups)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and put through the garlic press
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp garam masala
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced (about 7 cups of 1/2 pieces)
4 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 3 cups)
2 Tbs pure Vermont maple syrup
4 cups warm vegetable stock
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion begins to soften (approximately 10 minutes).
- Add the salt, pepper and garam masala and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the squash and 1 cup of the carrot and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every so often. At this point, I covered the dish and turned off the heat for about an hour and a half, which caused the veggies to heavily caramelize.
- Turn the heat back on and drizzle the maple syrup over the caramelized vegetable mixture.
- Pour the warm stock into the pot and stir to combine. (Add enough water to cover the veggies if they aren't already by the stock.)
- Add the remaining carrots.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the carrots are soft.
- Puree the mixture with an immersion blender (this is Dash's favorite part) or let it cool and puree in batches in a blender.
- If cooled, re-warm the soup, then add the frozen peas and stir until combined.
- Season to taste and enjoy!
