If I had to describe myself based on a defining skill, I’d have to say that I’m an idea person at heart. Nothing really gets me going like a good brainstorming session. My husband shares the same over-active imagination. We’ve spent many a road trip engineering make-believe business plans, inventing impossible machines, or dreaming up imaginary characters and stories.
When it comes to food, coming up with new ideas can be trickier than you might think. Thanks to the internet, it seems like almost everything has been done before. So when I come up with something new, I try to stay away from Google while I’m working things out. Nothing takes the winds out of my sails like finding out that my great new idea has been done umpteen times before.
This soup, for example, was a fairly simple thing, but its newness gave me a thrill. I steamed the squash, pushed it through a food mill, then whisked it together with chicken broth and miso paste. I tasted it, then decided to add a little salt and a splash of sesame oil. Developing this recipe wasn’t rocket science, but with my belly full of warm soup I felt kind of like a genius anyway.
Now that I finished making my soup I Googled a bit and found that, yes, other people have had this idea as well. You can check out recipes from my fellow soup geniuses here:
- Butternut Squash Soup with Miso & Coconut | Food 52
- Miso Pumpkin Soup | The Kitchn
- Miso Butternut Squash Soup With Soba or Udon Noodles | VegKitchen
- Miso & Butternut Squash Soup | Never Homemaker
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Miso | Curry and Comfort
By the way, HELLO food mills! Where have they been all my life? A big thanks to Aneelee for letting me borrow hers. I’m now in love with pushing food through mesh.
Simple Acorn Squash & Miso Soup
Makes about three cups
Ingredients
- 1 acorn squash
- 2 cups broth/stock
- 1 tablespoon shiro miso paste
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- chopped chives or scallion (optional)
Directions
- Cut the squash into about eight large chunks, removed the seeds, then steam or boil until very soft. You can either push the unpeeled chunks through a food mill, or scrape off the peel and puree the flesh in a food processor.
- Combine the squash and broth in a saucepan. I used homemade chicken stock, but veggie stock or dashi would also be fine. In fact, I suspect that you could even just use water and still have a pleasant tasting soup.
- Whisk in the miso paste and salt.
- Bring to a simmer, then whisk in the sesame oil.
- Serve hot, and garnish with sliced scallion or chives (if you have some handy).