Signature · about 2 hours, with part of the mise en place the day before · Serves 4
Squash cream soup with goat cheese and savory granola
The squash cream soup of every winter, silky and only slightly sweet, served as a starter. This version is more aromatic and contemporary: the squash is roasted first to concentrate its flavor and the soup is refined until fluid but with body.
The twist is to add sweet corn, which reinforces the natural sweetness of the squash, and a minimal amount of vanilla, which amplifies the aromas without turning it into a sweet dish. Sage brings the herbal counterpoint, in the cooking and in a green oil. A cold quenelle of goat cheese and yogurt gives acidity, a crunchy savory granola of corn and almonds, and a few drops of sherry vinegar close the dish.
Special equipment: high-power blender or hand blender; fine sieve
Ingredients
Roasted squash
- Enough winter squash to obtain 1 kg of roasted pulp
- Olive oil and salt
Goat cheese quenelle
- 120 g fresh goat cheese
- 50 g thick plain yogurt
- Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
- 5 ml olive oil
- Salt, a minimal amount
Savory granola
- 40 g toasted corn, cancha or unsweetened puffed corn
- 20 g almonds
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon honey
- Fine salt
Sage oil
- 6 fresh sage leaves
- 20–30 ml mild olive oil
Soup
- 200 g sweet corn kernels
- 100 g onion, finely cut
- 80 g leek, white part only, finely cut
- 40 g butter
- ¼ vanilla bean
- 6 sage leaves
- 750 ml mild vegetable stock
- 70 ml heavy cream
- Fine salt and white pepper
Finishing
- Aged sherry vinegar
- Flaky salt
- 4 small sage leaves and a little oil, for frying, optional
Method
Roasted squash
- Roasting. Preheat the oven to 205 °C (400 °F). Cut the squash into large pieces, lightly season them with oil and salt and roast them 35–45 minutes, until completely tender and somewhat caramelized. Remove the skin and weigh 1 kg of pulp.
Goat cheese quenelle
- Whipping. Whip the goat cheese with the yogurt, zest and oil until a homogeneous, firm cream. Taste and correct with very little salt. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes: it must be cold to form good quenelles.
Savory granola
- Toasting. Roughly chop the almonds and toast them in a pan with the corn. Add the paprika, honey and a pinch of salt, mix quickly and remove from the heat. Spread on a tray and let cool: it should be dry and crunchy.
Sage oil
- Blending. Blanch the leaves 10–15 seconds, move them to ice water, drain and dry them very well. Blend them intensely with the oil, pass through a fine sieve and keep in the refrigerator.
Soup
- Aromatic base. Melt half the butter and cook the onion and leek over medium-low heat 8–10 minutes, without much color. Add the corn and cook 2 minutes.
- Perfume. Split the vanilla lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and add seeds and pod. Add the sage and 700 ml of the stock and cook at a gentle simmer 10–12 minutes. Remove the pod and leaves.
- Blending. Add the roasted squash and heat a few minutes. Process at maximum speed to a very fine cream, adding the rest of the stock if needed, and pass through a fine sieve.
- Emulsion. Add the remaining butter and the cream and emulsify with the hand blender. Adjust the salt, white pepper and density: it should be fluid, but dense enough to partly hold the plating elements.
Finishing
- Fried sage. If using, fry the small leaves in a little hot oil for a few seconds, until crisp and green, and drain on paper towels.
- Temperature. Serve the soup at 70–75 °C (158–167 °F), without boiling it. If made ahead and refrigerated, bring it first to 74 °C (165 °F) and emulsify again.
The dish
Use light or ivory-colored deep plates, warmed. Serve about 220 ml of soup and draw a thin line of sage oil across the surface. Form a goat cheese quenelle with two spoons and set it slightly off center. In the opposite area, put a spoonful of savory granola, which is added only at the pass so it does not get damp. Finish with 3–5 small drops of sherry vinegar, a few flakes of salt on the cheese and, if using, a fried sage leaf. Final look: a smooth, glossy orange soup, the green stroke of the sage, the white quenelle and the golden crunch of the granola.
Key points
- Roast the squash until completely tender and somewhat caramelized: it is what concentrates the flavor.
- Cook the onion and leek without much color, so as not to dull the orange of the soup.
- Measure the vanilla: if it is recognized right away as a vanilla flavor, too much was used.
- Keep the granola dry and crunchy, and add it only at the pass.
- Do not boil the soup once emulsified with the butter and cream.
Pairing
A young Chardonnay with little oak, or a dry Torrontés, go with the sweetness of the squash and corn and the acidity of the goat cheese. Without alcohol, sparkling water with a few drops of lemon and a sage leaf.
Notes
- Intended result: the soup balances the sweetness of the squash and corn, a very subtle vanilla perfume, the herbal notes of the sage, the acidity of the goat cheese and the sherry, and the crunch of the granola.
- Storage: the soup is kept covered in the refrigerator up to 48 hours, chilled quickly in a shallow container. Reheat it to 74 °C (165 °F) before serving.