Lush and sensuous make-ahead dish is perfect for the cool weather. How about after Thanksgiving? But two pumpkins for Halloween, carve one, and draw a face on the other with Magic Marker. That’s the one we eat. Or you can use kabocha, acorn, or butternut squash. Frankly, they’re better. If you have homemade Smoked Bone Broth in the freezer (of course you do, don’t you?), use it instead of the chicken broth.
Makes. 4 servings
Takes. Prep about 35 minutes, smoking 40 minutes, soup 30 minutes
Special tools. Grill topper
6 slices bacon
2 pounds of meat from an orange squash such as kabocha, acorn, butternut, or pumpkin
1 golf ball-sized shallot
1 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
3 cups broth or stock
1 cup dry white wine
12 large whole fresh sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 cup half-and-half
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup plain thick yogurt
If you don’t do wine. Just add more broth.
About the sage. If you don’t have fresh sage you can use dried.
About the chipotle. I’ve made this with other chile powders and even gochuchang.
1| Prep. Cook the bacon, crumble it, and save the drippings. Cut the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and clean them removing as much of the stringy slimy stuff as possible. If some remains, not to worry, it will disappear in the smoking process. With a vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel off the skin from the squash. It is tough, so don’t worry if you cut off some of the meat. Cut the meat into chunks about 1-inch diameter. Weigh 2 pounds. If there is extra you can freeze it or use it and scale up the rest of the ingredients. Peel and mince the shallot. If you don’t have one, a small onion will work fine.
2| Seeds. Dissolve the salt in 1 cup of hot water and add the seeds. Let stand for 30 minutes, then drain and leave wet.
3| Fire Up. Light your smoker and get it up to 225°F or set up your grill in two-zones, get the indirect side to 225°F, and get some smoke rolling.
4| Cook. Spritz the squash cubes with water (remember, smoke sticks to wet stuff). Distribute the cubes and wet seeds in the grill topper. Smoke, lid down, for 40 minutes. Reserve the cubes and seeds separately.
5| Make the soup. Place a large saucepan over medium heat on a side-burner or indoors. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat and when it’s hot, add and sauté the shallot until tender. Add the squash cubes, broth, wine, 3 sage leaves, salt, honey, and chipotle. Simmer until the squash is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Add the half-and-half and transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until very smooth. Don’t try this with a stick blender because you need more horsepower to make this stuff smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt, chipotle, and half-and-half as desired.
6| Fry some sage leaves. Take the remaining 8 sage leaves and fry them in the reserved bacon fat.
7| Serve. Pour the soup into bowls and dollop a spoonful of yogurt in the center. Scatter with the bacon, pumpkin seeds, and fried sage.
