Essential · 1 hour · Serves 4
Roasted squash cream soup with cream cheese and toasted seeds
Illustrative image generated with AI, not a photo of the cooked dish.
Kitchen test pending
The same root as the two Signature soups of the family: roasted winter squash, which concentrates the sweetness and adds toasty notes, blended to a silky cream. This version is the winter-dinner one, with few ingredients and a result that needs nothing more than bread.
The twist is to roast the squash instead of boiling it and finish with simple contrasts. A little cream cheese gives body and a soft acidity, some pumpkin seeds toasted with paprika add crunch, and a drizzle of olive oil and pepper close the dish.
Special equipment: hand blender or blender
Ingredients
Roasted squash
- 1.2 kg winter squash (anco or calabaza type), peeled and in 3 cm cubes (about 900 g cleaned)
- 1 medium onion, in quarters
- 2 garlic cloves, in their skins
- 30 ml olive oil
- Fine salt and black pepper
Soup
- 700–800 ml hot vegetable or chicken stock
- 80 g cream cheese
- 20 g butter
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
Toasted seeds
- 40 g hulled pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pinch of sweet or smoked paprika and another of salt
Finishing
- Olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 teaspoons cream cheese, optional
Method
Roasted squash
- Roasting. Heat the oven to 200 °C (390 °F). Toss the squash, onion and garlic with the oil, salt and pepper, and spread them on a tray in a single layer, without crowding. Roast 35–40 minutes, turning them halfway, until the squash is very tender and golden at the edges. Peel the garlic.
Soup
- Blending. Move the squash, onion and garlic to a pot with 700 ml of stock and simmer 5 minutes. Blend with the butter and cream cheese until completely smooth, adding stock if thick: it should coat the spoon and fall in a continuous thread. Adjust the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Keep hot without boiling.
Toasted seeds
- Toasting. Toast the seeds in a dry pan over medium heat 3–4 minutes, moving them, until they puff and begin to pop. Turn off the heat, add the oil, paprika and salt and mix.
Finishing
- At serving. Have the oil, pepper and cream cheese at hand.
The dish
Use hot deep plates or bowls. Serve about 250 ml of soup per plate and, if using, put a teaspoon of cream cheese in the center, drawing a spiral with the tip of the spoon. Scatter the toasted seeds on one side, so they keep their crunch, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper. Final look: an intense, smooth orange soup, the white spiral, the green and golden seeds and the dots of oil.
Key points
- Roast the squash in a single layer so it browns and does not steam.
- Blend until no fiber remains.
- Adjust the thickness with stock, not with cream.
- Add the seeds at the end so they do not soften.
Pairing
An unoaked Chardonnay or a dry Torrontés. Without alcohol, sparkling water with orange.
Notes
- Storage: the soup is chilled quickly and keeps up to 3 days at 5 °C (41 °F) or below, or 2 months in the freezer. Reheat it over low heat, stirring, until it simmers gently.