Art, design, food and creative smarts

I love gourds – especially taking photos of them. Keep in mind, you can use pretty much any gourd or squash for the recipes below. I typically use Butternut Squash which is really inexpensive and easy to handle. Other squash, such as the Acorn squash, can be a bit trickier to handle because of it’s tougher skin. Some gourds and squash vary in cooking times because the flesh becomes tender more quickly when bakes. So keep in mind the cooking times. Enjoy the recipes below and feel free to change up the ingredients! Also take a look at some of my gourd photos from last season.

Warm Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
1 onion sliced
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Pinch hot pepper flakes
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Bay leaf
Half & half cream
Chicken broth (or water)

Cut the squash in half- long side and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
Coat halves with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper skin side up (flesh down), and bake for 30-40 minutes at 375 (or until golden and roasted).
Remove from oven and allow to cool (this will make the skin easy to peel off).

In a large pot, combine olive oil and onions. Sautee for a few minutes then add, pinch of hot pepper flakes, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
Scoop out the roasted squash and add to onion pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
With an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Add more liquid if you need to, as well as salt & pepper to taste. Add cream until the soup becomes glossy and rich.
Serve.

You can make homemade croutons for this as well. I don’t eat them because I can’t have bread in my diet but they are good with the soup.

Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic chopped
Knob of fresh peeled ginger chopped (equal to garlic amount)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Pinch hot pepper flakes
Nutmeg
Bay leaf
Chicken broth (or water)

Cut the squash in half- long side and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
Coat halves with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper skin side up (flesh down), and bake for 30-40 minutes at 375 (or until golden and roasted).
Remove from oven and allow to cool (this will make the skin easy to peel off).

In a large pot, combine olive oil and onions. Sautee for a few minutes then add garlic, ginger and pinch of hot pepper flakes. Once combined, add bay leaf and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
Scoop out the roasted squash and add to onion pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
With an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Add more liquid if you need to, as well as salt & pepper to taste.