A spoonful of North Carolina fall flavors. >>>Note: yes, all the Morganton pickups this week will be as usual: Bluebird Farm, Morganton Natural Foods, and Sat Morganton Farmers Market.
It will be the 3 pickups in November:5th/6th, 12th/13th, 19th/20th that all 3 locations are merged into the Friday 4-6pm Morganton Natural Foods pickup with a farmer present for meat, egg, and veggie pickups. >>>
The baby pink ginger is enlivening with an aromatic tropical zest you can't get from thick mature ginger. Keeps in the fridge up to 10 days. Freeze it and grate frozen later if you don't use it all fresh. Use the stems for tea. We love it on everything fall: apple crisp, stirfry, butternut soup, cocktails, seltzer water, and tea. We grow the ginger in our greenhouse, so we'll keep the tropical ginger flavors around even after it freezes. Our butternut supply will be very low after this week, so jump on the butternut and ginger from our farm this week!
Ingredients
- 2 butternut squash (3-pound) ,cut in 1/2 lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- ½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 piece baby pink ginger, 2 x 3 inches, grated
- 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
- Freshly ground black pepper
For serving
- Chopped parsley
- Crusty bread
Instructions
- Do ahead: Cut butternut in half lengthwise. Oil a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place butternut pieces facedown and rub oil around. Roast at 350F for 1 hour or until scoops out easily with a spoon. Let cool. Scoop out seeds. Scoop out butternut flesh and reserve for soup.
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Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until very soft, 12-20 minutes.
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Turn heat to medium. Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, and ginger. Stir and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant, then slowly 1/2 broth while stirring and then add rest of the 3 cups of the broth. Add soft roasted butternut to soup and stir. It's ok if it is not smooth yet. Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender or food processer, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. Careful, don't close the lid too tightly; hot liquid can gain too much pressure in a blender or food processor. If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend.
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Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer 15-20 minutes to blend the flavors.
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Season to taste and serve with parsley and crusty bread. Also good with kale and carrot salad.
