White Bean and Butternut Squash Soup
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Author Notes: This is a variation of a recipe that I initially saw in Giada de Laurentiis' cook book. I have made my version of it a few times for dinner parties for friends, and people swear it's the best thing they have ever tasted! For vegetarians, it's easy to avoid putting in the meat and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. - Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast
Serves 5
- 30 ounces Cannellini Beans
- 1 Butternut Squash
- 1/4 pound Pancetta (diced)
- 1 sprig Rosemary (leaves only)
- 4 cloves Garlic (halved)
- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 Shallots (chopped)
- 2 stalks Celery (chopped)
- 1 Carrot (chopped)
- 4 cups Vegetable or Organic Chicken Stock
- 1/2 cup Organic Half & Half
- 1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half, long ways and remove the seeds and pulp from the core. Rub some olive oil on in, and put it in the oven on a baking sheet. Let cook for about 30 minutes.
- After the squash has been in the oven for about 20 minutes, heat some olive oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the pancetta and let crisp up and brown a bit. Next, add shallots, celery, and carrots (mirepoix). Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to mirepoix and let cook for 10 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
- Add the rosemary and white beans to the mixture and let the beans soak up the flavors for about 5 minutes. Add a little more salt and pepper to the mixture, flavor every layer.
- Add all the stock to the pot, raise the heat and bring to a simmer. Add the garlic halves and let simmer for 10 minutes, until garlic is soft.
- Remove the squash from the oven and transfer bean mixture to a mixing bowl.
- Ladle a few spoonfuls of the soup mixture into a food processor, and a couple spoonfuls of the squash. Mix until smooth and return to the soup pot. Repeat until all the soup and squash have run through the food processor.
- Mix in the half and half and Parmesan cheese and keep on low heat until ready to serve.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Dish with Meat as a Flavoring
Tags: butternut squash, cannellini beans
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5 months ago ConnieSayler
Absolutely loved this soup! Made it according to the recipe! Fantastic!
over 1 year ago gharader
This is exquisitely delicious, like Thanksgiving in a bowl.
over 1 year ago Ms. T
I made a variation of your recipe for our first course of Thanksgiving and it was a big hit! Thanks for sharing :) I wrote about it on my blog:
http://stillsimmering.wordpress...
over 1 year ago Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast
Thanks so much, Ms. T! Glad to hear the group was able to enjoy it and you were able to serve it for the holidays! Nothing better than hearing people out there are enjoying your recipes!
over 1 year ago Ms. T
What a great recipe! Someone made this for our Bay Area Food52 potluck party and served it in glasses (so we could drink it while standing). It was delicious! I'm thinking of making it for Thanksgiving. It will be just the thing after we come in from our long, cold, and maybe rainy hike: a nice l'il bribe to get my guests warmed up and ready to help out in the kitchen!
over 1 year ago ksherk
Thanks for posting this! We tried it last night and really enjoyed how layered the flavors were! My BF and I agreed it was neat that even tho this is a blended soup, we could really taste the white beans, the prosciutto, the rosemary, etc.
My only comments are...
1. Pancetta and prosciutto are very different. Did you really mean either/or? I chose prosciutto because it would be a little saltier and less fatty.
2. Were I to make this again (and I'm guessing I will!), I would actually use MORE buttnernut squash. We halved the recipe, and I used one whole (but small) squash, and I was left wanting more sweet squash-y flavor.
Minor comments for what a was a lovely fall dinner -- a complete meal in a bowl!
over 1 year ago Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast
Hi ksherk- thanks for testing it out! You are right, prosciutto and and pancetta are very different, but I think the intent is that you have a salty fat to add to the dish. You could really use either or bacon for that matter. Whatever you think works best. I'll try adding more squash next time, thanks for the tips!
over 1 year ago Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast
Thanks, Benjamin! So glad you were able to enjoy it. As for the bacon, you can never really go wrong with bacon. Adds that extra layer of smokiness!
over 1 year ago Benjamin Tran
This recipe is absolutely delicious on a cold fall evening. Pancetta was a little bit expensive for me, but I got 1/4 lb thick-cut bacon to replace that instead and it turned out amazingly! I'll splurge next time to get some pancetta/proscuitto :)
about 2 years ago monkeymom
This looks wonderful. I'll be looking for butternut to try this!