Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers #veganmofo

September 18, 2014 by Tracy 4 Comments

Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers

Well, it has been a busy and exciting week for me. As you may know, I am an Australian living in Northern Ontario Canada. Where I live is a large town, about 56,000 people and I live right in town, two blocks from the lake and one block from a four lane major road. Well, guess who ended up with a full-grown bear in her back yard….yep, that’s right, there he was sitting in the tree in my back yard, about 20 feet from my deck. The first picture on the left, is taken from my deck…..note the dark shape in the centre…..zoom in and you see the picture on the right…..Boo Boo Bear, as I called him.

 

Boo Boo Bear

Boo Boo Bear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not exactly something an Australian is used to dealing with, a shark or poisoness snake is more up my alley. While he was definitely scary, he was also just a beautiful animal.

After that I had a four-day conference in Quebec City (an eight-hour drive from home), so I have been a little quiet for the past week. So now it is time to get back into the MoFo swing.

Here is a very elegant (but easy) pumpkin soup recipe. The two different layers give a nice visual.

Enjoy,

 

Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers

Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup

Serves 4
Butternut purée

• 1 Tblspn  sunflower oil
• 1 small  onion, finely diced
• 1/2 tspn  curry powder
• 1/4 tspn  ground turmeric
• 1 lb of butternut squash, roughly diced
• salt and sugar to taste
• 4 cups of water

Butternut squash soup

• 2 Tblspns  sunflower oil
• 1 medium  onion, diced
• 1 tspn  curry powder
• 1/2 tspn  ground turmeric
• 1 lb of butternut squash, roughly diced
• 1 cup cashew creme
• 1 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 dash of Tabasco
• 2 cups of water

To make the butternut purée, heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the onions and saute for a few minutes, without colouring

Add the curry powder and turmeric and continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring well to coat the onions in the spices

Add the butternut squash and 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, to make the soup, heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the curry powder and turmeric, stir well, then cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the butternut squash and 2 cups of water and leave to simmer, covered for 1 hour or until the squash is falling apart.

Continue with the butternut purée: strain the contents of the pan and place the solids in a food processor.

Blend to a purée. Put the purée in a bowl and season to taste with salt and sugar. Set aside.

Once the soup is cooked, allow it to cool a little, then transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Return the soup to a clean saucepan and add all but 4 tspns of the cashew creme, tabasco, salt and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer for 5 mins until heated through.

Place a layer of the butternut purée at the base of each serving glass. Gently spoon a layer of soup on top. Add a tspn of cashew creme to the top and gently swirl. Top with freshly ground pepper.

Butternut Pumpking Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers

Red Pepper Crackers

• Ingredients
  1 cup all-purpose flour
  1 Tbspn vegan butter
  1 tspn olive oil
  1 Tblspn crushed red pepper flakes
  ½ tspn salt
  Sea salt  for the top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add oil, melted butter,and ¼ cup water and mix until the dough comes together into a ball.
Add more water if the dough seems too dry, a little at a time.
Pat the dough into a disk. Place the disk between two pieces of parchment and using a rolling-pin, roll until very thin, about ⅛ inch.
Remove the top piece of parchment from dough and cut dough into 1-inch squares, but do not separate. Lightly brush the dough with water and sprinkle with sea salt.
Keep the dough on parchment paper and move onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until crisp and slightly puffed, about 15-20 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet after about ten minutes.
Let crackers the cool fully on the cookie sheet, then break apart.

 

Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 434 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 569 Calories from Fat 279

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 31.0g 48%

Saturated Fat 5.3g 27%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 1211mg 50%

Potassium 1129mg 32%

Total Carbohydrates 68.4g 23%

Dietary Fiber 7.9g 32%

Sugars 10.2g

Protein 11.3g

Vitamin A 483% • Vitamin C 93% Calcium 13% • Iron 31%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• No cholesterol
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6
• High in vitamin C

 

Butternut Pumpkin Layer Soup with Red Pepper Crackers