Did y’all read about the whole “sucking foam out of a mold of the chef’s mouth” debacle? Basically a food writer gave a bad review of what sounds like an incredibly bizarre meal at an Italian Michelin star restaurant. Apparently one of the courses involved a plaster mold of the chef’s mouth filled with a sweet foam, served without a spoon; another dish was fried ricotta balls but the ricotta was allowed to spoil before being used in the dish. Now everyone’s drawing battle lines over what modernist cuisine should strive for. The chef responded saying good food was meant to challenge the eater (basically we’re all dumb dumbs if we don’t love what he did) and that blind confidence is equal parts inspiring and sad.

In my most natural state, I’m a huge proponent of not trying to reinvent the wheel. We’re not in a Michelin star restaurant clinging to relevance, we’re at home in December, just like you, and it’s not really all that cold here, but we’re making cozy comfort dishes nonetheless. I’m burnt out from this year, we both are, and I’m sure you are too, and I wanted to share something warm and creamy and classic because that sounded sweet and comforting. This soup is a gentle forehead kiss from someone you want a gentle forehead kiss from. That’s not to say this butternut squash soup is boring, by any means! I’ve got a few little tricks to make it The Most Delicious.

When making comforting food, one of my favorite ways to infuse warmth without adding mounds of butter is to turn to nuts and seeds to offer a rich nutty flavor that’ll make your heart sing and your mouth wonder how it got so lucky. Sooo, we’re scratching the heavy cream typical in butternut squash soup and instead using tahini, which adds a subtle nuttiness to support all the cinnamon rosemary nutmeg fall flavor goodness while still doing a really good job of giving the soup a rich and creamy texture. This swap-out also makes this a vegan soup as long as you use a meatless broth or stock!

For another Layer Of Nut, we’re topping it with roasted spiced hazelnuts, adding extra heartiness to the soup that makes it feel like it could be a meal of its own. To cut through the heavier ingredients and to highlight the sweetness of the squash, a sprinkling of pomegranate arils give a punch of sweet acidity that makes each bite exciting. Finally, because the goal is comfort and what’s more comforting than bread, we’re piling in some comically thick croutons to soak up all that soup goodness, making for the most delicious bites.

I hope you’ll try this recipe out this winter and if you do please let me know! Recipe below :)

Xoxo Matt

Tahini Butternut Squash Soup

Makes 5 quarts, takes about 1 hour

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium-large carrot, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 butternut squash, about 2.5 lbs., peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium fuji apples, seeded and sliced
2-3 sprigs each of rosemary, sage, and thyme (each sprig measuring approximately 4” in length)
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or homemade stock of your choice
1 cup tahini
Juice of ½ lemon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 pomegranate

For the spiced roasted hazelnuts
1 cup hazelnuts
1 tablespoon softened butter or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg

For the croutons
1 baguette
Olive oil
Sea salt

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a soup pot (or Dutch oven) over medium high heat until shimmering. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and a pinch of salt. Lower heat to medium and sauté for ten minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid browning. Season with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, give a good stir and let cook for 30 seconds until spices are fragrant.
2.     Add the squash and apple to the pot along with rosemary, sage, and thyme. Lower heat to medium-low and sweat for 20 minutes, until the squash is easily smashed with the flat side of a fork.
3.     While cooking the squash in the above step we can prep our toppings. Combine hazelnuts in a medium bowl with softened butter or oil, light brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly to coat evenly and transfer to a baking pan with a lip. Set aside. Cut baguette into large pieces, about 1-2” wide. Place on a second baking pan and give a liberal drizzling of olive oil. Use tongs to toss and evenly coat each piece, and then sprinkle evenly with sea salt. Toss again. Place the croutons on your top rack and hazelnuts on a rack beneath it and cook for ten minutes, watching closely to avoid burning. The hazelnuts should turn several shades darker and the croutons a golden brown—halfway through you may want to turn your pans if your oven tends to cook unevenly. Remove and set aside.
5.     Cover the squash and other vegetables in your soup pot with 5 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook another 20 minutes. Working in batches as necessary, transfer stew to a blender, removing and discarding all herbs. Add 1 cup tahini to blender and pulse on high until smooth and creamy.
6.     Return pureed soup to Dutch oven. Taste and adjust seasoning as you wish with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Add lemon juice and brown sugar and stir over a low flame for ten minutes before serving. Garnish individual bowls with roasted croutons, hazelnuts, and pomegranate seeds.

Tahini Butternut Squash Soup with Hazelnuts and Pomegranate

Tahini Butternut Squash Soup