Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Sage Croutons

It's hard to find a better use for butternut squash than making it into sweet, silky, sage infused butternut squash soup. OK, maybe butternut squash ravioli with sage butter or butternut squash lasagna... More on those later. For now here is a great way to make butternut squash soup. The key is to roast and caramelize the squash and onions first. Roasting intensifies their flavor and adds more depth and sweetness to the soup. Yah, that's right.

Ingredients:

For the Soup

1 medium Butternut Squash roughly cut into 1 inch chunks
3 Medium Carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large Onion cut into 8 half moons
1 pint Half and Half
A cup and a half of Chicken stock
1 tablespoon fresh Sage chopped
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Water - as needed
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Croutons:

3 slices of country bread
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon torn sage leaves
Salt & Pepper

Tear up the bread into small pieces or quickly pulse in a food processor.
Heat the butter, olive oil and sage in a pan and add the coarse breadcrumbs. Heat through until toasted and crispy. Taste for salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375

Put the butternut squash, onion and carrots in a roasting pan and toss with two tablespoons of olive oil. Roast covered for a half hour, then uncovered for a half hour or until the squash is soft and starting to caramelize.

Remove the squash, carrots and onion and put into a 6 qt cook pot. Add the chicken stock to the roaster and deglaze. Pour into the pot with the vegetables.

Add the Half and Half, sage and lemon juice. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and silky. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the soup on low and keep warm. Add water if the soup gets too thick.

Serve in soup bowls. Sprinkle sage croutons on top along with a few sage leaves. 

The Secret to Making Sfogliatelle

For Italian Heritage Month - 

Sfogliatelle riccie

Sicily may have its cannoli but Naples has sfogliatelle (pron: shfo-lee-a-`tel-ay, also just - shfo-ya-`tel). We love these wonderful citrus flavored ricotta filled pastries. They look mysterious and impossible to duplicate at home, don't they?  If you don't have an Italian bakery near you that sells them and are up for a real challenge that rewards you with results like these, check out the videos and links below. You could be making them to show off at upcoming holiday parties and meals. For Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, they are real treats! Or with just a cup of coffee.

Like the stories behind unusual pasta shapes (and simply because they are Italian...) you know there has to be a good degree of colorful drama associated with the origin of these pastries. 

So, follow this Link to find out:  Sfogliatelle, the back story

Here's a video on how a skilled pastry chefs makes sfogliatelle riccie- 

There are also Sfogliatelle Frolle, they are more like filled donuts or hand pies. Just as good but easier to make at home.

Sfogliatella Frolla

Click on the link below to a site that has recipes and instructions for making both types of sfogliatelle:

Instructions for Sfogliatelle Riccie and Sfogliatelle Frolle

Have fun!

Chicken and Chorizo Tacos

Took a tip from my daughter-in-law Miranda in preparing the chicken for these tacos. She made chicken tacos for my granddaughter Evie's birthday party last weekend. She cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a crock pot with chicken broth, taco seasoning and salsa. When done, the chicken breasts are taken out and the meat shredded. They were very good and I liked the idea of cooking the chicken in a crock pot but changed the seasonings up a little. Instead of taco seasoning and salsa, I cooked the chicken breasts in the crock pot with chorizo sausage out of its casing. The chorizo has good bold flavor and as it cooked down, the juices soaked into the chicken, it giving the chicken a wonderful taste. We get our chorizo from a Mexican market here that makes their own fresh chorizo. We had the tacos with mashed pinto beans and guacamole. Recipes for all are below.

For the Chicken Tacos - makes 10 -12 tacos

Ingredients:

2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 - 1/2 lb fresh chorizo sausage

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 Calabrese or Serrano pepper (optional)

1 sweet onion cut in thin half moons

2 green or colored bell pepper cut in strips - we used the last of the green bells from our garden

Cilantro

Sour cream

Shredded colby jack cheese

Small flour tortillas

Directions:

Cut each chicken breast into a couple big chunks and put into the crock pot.

Take the chorizo out of the casing and add to the chicken, breaking up the chorizo with a spoon.

If using, slice the pepper lengthwise and add to the chicken and chorizo

Add the chicken stock

Set the crock pot to high

Cook for 3 - 4 hours

Take the chicken pieces out and shred with a fork

Put the shredded chicken back in the crock pot and turn it off.

Saute the peppers and onions until soft

Heat the flour tortillas and spoon on the chicken & chorizo, the peppers, onions, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and cilantro.

For the Mashed Pinto Beans

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin
2 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 - 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed

Squirt of lime juice
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Shredded colby jack cheese

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chili powder and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the beans and chicken broth and cook until the beans are warmed through, about 5 minutes. Mash the beans coarsely with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, adding more chicken broth to moisten, if needed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the cilantro. 

For the Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, pulp scooped out
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Directions:

Place the scooped avocado pulp in a bowl and add the lime juice, toss to coat.., add the salt, cumin, and cayenne.

Using a potato masher or a fork mash the pulp and seasonings together.

Meanwhile saute the onion and garlic in a frying pan until soft

Fold in the sauteed onion and garlic along with the jalapeno, tomatoes and cilantro into the seasoned avocado pulp.

Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve on the tacos or use as a dip with corn chips.