Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Brooding Over Butternut

I have spent so long trying to find another good poem about orange or about squash that I probably could have written my own in less time.  But I did finally find a marvelous one for today's All About Orange installment of Now Serving: Bidding Butternut Bonne Nuit.

First, the poem.  Which is actually part of an art installment and it goes with the picture below, neither of which is my own:









Conversation - Poem on Edward Weston's "Squash" (commissioned for a centennial project of the Yale Art Gallery)


"Delve for me, delve down, delve past your body, crowned
by its hidden stem, into shadowy alarm;
you will not vanish past our dark-shed charm,
throat over throat, ankle to ankle, bound
in our different arches, summer-nicked and browned
interlocking rings in the chain of wrist and arm."

"Lie for me, lie, and I will feel you turn.
Mark out the summer's bending time. Yes, learn
to cradle the concrete ground to softness.  Stay.
Measure me past my stem, though your shadows churn;
Close yourself over; encompass me like clay."

-Annie Finch (2000)


Sigh.  I wish i could write like that.  But I am not a poet, I am a painter (ha ha).  And sometimes, a cook.  And sometimes, I paint with food.

Before we let spring come bouncing into our kitchens with extravagant abandon, waving her rainbow palette and leaving a trail of edible flowers, I think we should give thanks to the kind grandmother of winter - the butternut squash - who gathered up all of summer's deepest golds and a dash of crimson leaves and bundled them tightly within her shell before waddling into our homes to nurse us through the winter blues and greys.  Rich, velvety, sweet squash...how would we ever make it through life without you?

So here are two favorite dishes you can use to send off your remaining butternut squash with love until next fall.

Butternut Squash Soup
(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

This lovely soup is the perfect marriage of two fall favorites - squash and pear.  The toasted hazelnuts and squeeze of lemon add depth and brightness.  I like the cream as an opportunity to paint a Rothko color block in every bowl.

3 lbs butternut squash
3 T olive oil
1 lge Spanish onion, chopped
1 lge shallot, chopped
1 fennel bulb, trimmed & sliced
2 celery stalks, trimmed & sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1.5 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
6 cups vegetable broth
2 ripe pears, peeled cored, chopped
2 strips orange peel

For garnish:
lemon slices
heavy cream
toasted chopped hazelnuts


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  If using whole squash, cut it in half, scoop out seeds, and rub flesh with a little olive oil and salt.  If using peeled and cut squash, toss with a little oil and salt.  Bake squash 60-70 minutes for whole or about 45 minutes for cut - checking about 10 minutes early either way with the tip of a knife until flesh is easily pierced with a knife.  (Note:  this is a great dish to use your new convection microwave for - it'll halve the baking time.)  If whole, peel squash once cool enough to handle, and cut into small chunks.


Warm 2 T olive oil in Dutch oven or soup pot over low heat, stir in onion and shallot.  Season lightly with salt and cook for 5 minutes, or until onions start to soften but not color.

 Add fennel, celery, garlic, dash of salt and cook for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are soft but still pale.  
Add the squash and spices, 1/4 tsp. salt, and few grinds of pepper (i like white and green here,  because they're softer).  Pour in broth, increase heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so that soup simmers gently; add pears and orange peel.  Partially cover pot and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until everything can be mashed with the back of a spoon.

Puree in a blender or do yourself a favor and get an immersion blender so you can just blend the soup in the pot.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with hazelnuts and swirl in cream (or vice versa).  Garnish with lemon slices and serve.


Moving on to the main course...

Fettuccine with Butternut Squash and Pine Nuts


While you can do this with boxed pasta, it just isn't even close to as good as with homemade pasta.  And homemade pasta is actually so easy to make if you have a food processor and a pasta machine you almost have no excuse not to do this from scratch, because it really only adds about 15-20 minutes of work. The dough needs to rest for 30 minutes, but it'll take you that long to peel the squash anyway, so just do it already.

For the Fettuccine
2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 c. freshly chopped thyme or oregano

Put all ingredients in food processor and run for about 20 seconds.  With floured hands, gather dough and knead into a ball.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes (while you peel the squash).  Divide the dough into 5 pieces.  Run each piece through the pasta machine from thickest to thinner settings until about 1/8" thick - around #6/7 on the Atlas machine.  As this is a hearty dish, you don't want the noodles to be paper thin.  Run strip of dough through fettuccine cutter.  Try to keep the bundles flat - letting them dry for a few minutes on a cake rack while rolling the rest of the pieces works well.  Let dry 10 minutes as you boil a bit pot of salted water and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

For the Squash/Kale Mixture

1/2 stick (1/4 lb.) unsalted butter
2 T. olive oil
1/3 c. pine nuts
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped
(box of fettuccine or pappardelle if not using fresh)
3/4 cup grated parmesan

In heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat and cook until golden brown (about 2 min.).  Add olive oil, then pine nuts, and cook 1-2 minutes until golden.  Transfer nuts to a plate with slotted spoon.
Add squash to skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.  Add kale and cook until wilted and just tender, about 5-8 minutes.  

Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente.  For fresh fettuccine, this will only be about 2-4 minutes - keep checking it.  Reserve 1 c. of pasta cooking liquid and drain the rest.  Add pasta to squash mixture with about 1/2 c. cooking liquid and toss over low heat until heated through and most water is absorbed - about 1-2 minutes.  Add more water if pasta seems dry.

Plate pasta and sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan.  Buon appetito!

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