"Creamy" Kabocha Soup (with a kick!)

I have a new toy and I'm in love.

Actually, I've had it for awhile, but I've been so busy with the move to our new place, it has sort of sat neglected on the counter for weeks.

Now, finally, as we're slowly settling in, I'm starting to really use my kitchen again (finally!).

Right before we moved, Bryan ordered me a new blender. I had dropped and destroyed old blender about 6 months ago, but was just too lazy to get a new one. I'd been getting by quite alright, making blended soups using my hand blender, which I also love.

Despite the convenience of the hand blender, I found that I could never really recreate the beautiful creamy soups that I enjoyed at restaurants. My soups always had just a bit of texture that separated them from what the pros made.

My new toy has totally solved that problem. After tons of research, Bryan decided to buy me a Blendtec blender. And boy, has that changed my life.

I've been having so much fun making different kinds of healthy drinks. In the past, I never really used my juicer that much because I felt guilty throwing away all that fiber. Now, all of a sudden I make really really smooth "smoothies" that taste really creamy, but are in fact fat free and full of vitamins and fiber.

Alas I digress.

What I wanted to share with you today was a delicious soup that I made using this blender.

I'm a huge fan of kabocha squash, and I can eat roasted kabocha cold out of the refrigerator at any time point during the day (yes, lately I've been roasting up whole squashes and just keeping stockpiles of the roasted stuff in the fridge).

Because I love it already so much by itself, I was pretty convinced that you wouldn't need to add too much more to make a delicious tasting (and healthy!) fall soup.

If you already have roasted kabocha squash on hand, this recipe is a piece of cake. You just saute some aromatics (I used about 1 small onion, diced) in olive oil for about 5-8 minutes until it's soft. Add 2 cups of roasted kabocha squash, and then 1/2 cup of broth (I used chicken broth). Put in your super powerful blender and blend! (I used the soup setting on the Blendtec).

Of course, you can use a hand blender too. The results won't be as smooth, but it will still taste just as good. :)

For a fantastic kick, add a splash of sriracha sauce!


Creamy Kabocha Soup (with a kick!)
serves 2
The amounts in this recipe are estimates and are quite flexible. Feel free to increase or decrease almost any of these ingredients depending on what you have at home. 

2 cups roasted kabocha squash
1 small onion, sliced
1 T olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
Sriracha sauce (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute onions in about 1 T of olive oil over medium heat until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5-8 minutes.

2. Add squash and broth and bring to a boil.

3. If using a hand blender. use the hand blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Otherwise, blend in a blender (ideally a really powerful one like a Blendtec or a Vitamix) and puree.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste (both are optional depending on how salty your broth and roasted kabocha squash are!).

5. Add a splash of Sriracha sauce for a kick (optional).

Enjoy!

Serve hot! (though I must confess I loved this soup so much I ate it cold for breakfast one morning. It was still soooo good)