Its the night after Halloween and you need to atone for your sins of overeating caramels and sour apple hard candies, right? You know who you are… you purposely bought a ton of junk knowing full well that you live in a senior retirement community and nobody but the pharmacy delivery driver was going to show up at your door, no less in a handmade costume.
Don’t feel bad. I get that way with winter vegetables every year. Granted, I’m not gonna sit on my front porch and bob for rutabagas wearing a Caribou Barbie costume, but I do need to use up all the stray produce taking up room in my eensy-weensy fridge. What to do? What to do?
Monster Mash Soup
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 small golden beet, diced
1 medium Fuji apple, diced
1/3 cup rutabaga, diced
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2-3 cups chicken stock
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Sage leaves, crumpled and julienned
five to more tiny sprigs of thyme or savory
Dash of ground cloves, or three whole ones if you have
Sea salt and ground pepper
Splash of cream or a dollop of creme fraiche at the finish
Get it done
After gathering it all, arranging mise en place, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and gently brown each vegetable one by one (except for the canned pumpkin puree, of course!), removing them to a waiting bowl on the side. Once its all yummy golden, pile it all back in the pot and add the stock and seasonings.
Simmer it very gently until tender enough to use an immersion blender. If you have the patience, fish out the thyme stems first (using just the leaves helps this go a lot faster). Adjust the seasonings and if you desire, let it reduce some more before dishing out and garnish with something creamy and try some of this, too:
Dash of white truffle oil
Spiced, toasted pepitas
Cornbread croutons
Crumbled, crispy pancetta
A drizzle of honey and a dash of Chipotle chili powder
Diced, cooked chestnuts
Leftover chicken, tofu or cooked ground sausage
Shreds of swiss chard, spinach or any hardy winter greeens tossed in five minutes before serving
