BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SOUP

Beauty, Florida Butternut Squash looks like a Melon

Most fruits and vegetables are beautiful in appearance, whether we like them or not, they are colorful and shapely. I said, most...a few are not. The one I have in mind is a root vegetable with incredible flavor and versatility, but, damn, it's ugly!!  Celeriac (even it's name sounds like a disease!) or celery root, a gnarly, lumpy,  hairy, grotesque beast, is, in fact, a true taste delight. It is good alone, but it adds magic to other ingredients.

Celeriac is packed with good nutrition too, fiber, potassium, Vitamin C, magnesium, just for starters! I especially like it mashed with potatoes, stir-fried with fennel, or roasted in a medley of other root vegetables.
Today's soup has Celeriac, the beast, coupled with a glorious, local variety of Butternut Squash, the beauty.

The squash is a Florida type butternut, with the characteristic butternut color and smooth skin, but the shape is ovoid, and it has a hollow seed filled hole in the center like a melon. When it is cut, the aroma is that of fresh, sweet melon, too. I had to hold myself back from just eating it raw!! I found it at my local organic market..I've never seen it before, but will surely seek it out again!  I found a small celery root there too and bought it not knowing exactly what I would make with it, but certain that I would love whatever it happened to be.

Inside of Butternut, like a pumpkin or melon

My usual fall butternut soup is with leek and apple and/ or cheddar cheese. Sometimes I like to use  a rutabaga with the squash too. Today, I used the celeriac, an apple and some shallot and onion since I had no leeks.  The result was as comforting and even more flavorful than the usual., in fact, there was no need to add an herb, salt or anything else. The sweetness of the squash, apple and celery root is amazing! The beast is indeed a prince!!

Two Beauties and the Beast

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SOUP

• 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 2 leeks or 1/2 onion and 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 apple, a tart variety is preferred, peeled and cut into pieces
• 1 small celery root, peeled (ugh) and cut into 1" pieces
• 1/4 cup apple cider or some yellow or orange fruit juice
• 3-4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Put all the ingredient except the broth into a soup pot. Cover and "sweat "the vegetables over medium heat. Just let them soften a little, especially the onion or leek.

Add the broth and cover and simmer until all vegetables are soft, about 1/2 hour.  

Buzz in the blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender. You can puree this until smooth or let it stay a little "chunky". Garnish as you wish, chopped apple, toasted nuts, sauteed mushrooms or parsley.

Enticing Aroma and Metamorphosis of the Beast!

Variations:  Add some ginger or nutmeg for a warm spicy flavor.

Add some jalapeño for a snappy "kick" or some evaporated milk for a creamy, velvety texture.

FLAVORY SAVORY TARTS: Zucchini Ricotta, Kuri Squash Gorgonzola, Eggplant Basil and Tomato

When you tire of a piece of meat or fish and potato or rice and a steamed veg for dinner, doesn't a vegetable tart sound nice? They are easy to make and really suitable for "sola" cooking.  A tart can be part of a dinner, a meal in itself with the addition of a salad, or a breakfast treat. You can enjoy it by yourself  while you watch T.V., or impress your guests with your great-looking gourmet creation! Accomplish all this with a pie crust, some onion, cheese, maybe an herb and a veggie. Simple!

Now that we are in harvest season (growing season here in Florida), it's time to take advantage of  many of the fresh vegetabales in the markets. The quality and price are best now too, while things are "in season".  I am going to give you a few recipes, but you can create your own using a basic formula. Some of the tarts may even be frozen for use later in the season when fresh veggies are not as "fresh"!!
Don't try freezing a watery veg like a tomato, but denser vegetables like squash, zucchini, carrots, etc. freeze pretty well.  So let's get started!

First choose a tart pan. I like the kind with the removable bottom, but a quiche pan will also do just fine.
Line it with your own or a store bought pie crust.  If you make your own, you can add chopped nuts or cheese or herbs to the crust for extra flavor.
Next, spread the crust with some sauteed or caramelized onions. Here again, you can vary the recipe using slivered peppers, garlic, shallots, leeks, etc. Then sprinkle them with some grated cheese of your choice. Parmesan is always neutral and flavorful.

On the other hand, if you want a creamy more quiche like tart, mix up some ricotta cheese with an egg , some parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and maybe a chopped herb, and spread that on the crust.

Then you sauté your vegetable (or in the case of tomatoes, just lay them on top). Drizzle with oil or butter, add some cheese and herbs and bake. That's it, really!!

Here's one with Tomato, Basil, Parmesan and Mozzarella

TOMATO TART WITH ONION AND OLIVES

• 1 onion sliced thinly
• olive oil for sauteeing and drizzling
• 4-6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
• Sliced fresh tomatoes, Heirloom, yellow, red or any combination
• about 8 Kalamata olives, pitted
• parmesan for sprinkling 
• 1 pie crust for 9 or 10 inch pan

Preheat the oven to 375.
Saute the onions in oil with a little salt until very soft, about 15-20 minutes.
Spread them evenly over the pie crust in the selected pan.

Top with Gruyere, spreading evenly over tart.

Arrange sliced tomatoes over cheese (for friends, arrange them as artfully as you can!)

Dot with olives which have been cut into pieces. Sprinkle parmesan over all.
If you wish , you may drizzle more oil, add some salt and maybe basil, parsley or thyme.

Here's one with Heirloom Red, Purple, and Yellow Tomatoes

Bake for about 1 hour until pastry is golden.

EGGPLANT, TOMATO, MOZZARELLA TART

• 1 small eggplant sliced into rounds
• olive oil
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 4-6 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• sliced tomatoes
• black olives, pitted, sliced (preferably Kalamata, Nicoise or oil cured)
• fresh basil or pesto sauce
• paremsan cheese

Saute the eggplant in olive oil with salt,  pepper and some garlic powder. Drain.  Saute onions in same pan as explained above.

Spread the onions and eggplant over the pie crust. Dot with some fresh basil. Top with Mozzarella. Add sliced tomatoes, olives and basil. Bake as above. 

For variety you may use pesto sauce drizzled on top in place of basil and olive oil. Sometimes I have added some roasted red peppers when I do this. Yummy!!

Eggplant layer

I know this looks like the others, but there is a layer of eggplant under the cheese!

It is especially good with pesto and roasted peppers added.

This is similar only there is a ricotta base to the tart.

ZUCCHINI RICOTTA TART

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 small onion or 2 scallions
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese
• fresh dill
• salt and pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• parmesan cheese
• butter for sauteeing zucchini

Blend the ricotta with the egg, chopped dill, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add some grated parmesan to taste.

Slice the onion or scallion.  Saute in butter until softened.  Add zucchini which has been sliced into rounds and sauté until softened, but not mushy.

Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the pie crust. Top with zucchini and onion and add some more fresh dill if desired. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake.

If you like it extra cheesy, add some shredded cheese, mozzarella or feta on top of the ricotta, but try to keep it fairly healthy!!

So good, even for breakfast!!

Here's another idea. I don't have a recipe because I just made it impromptu. It is Kuri Squash, Gorgonzola and Sage Tart in a puff pastry. 

I cut up the squash and roasted it with salt and pepper and olive oil for about 45 minutes. 

Proceeded as above with onions only used frozen puff pastry as base. 

I mixed some crumbled gorgonzola with some cream and dotted the squash with it and added some fresh sage leaves. The Kuri, thought delicious, was a bit dense for this, so I would recommend another squash, delicata or pumpkin pie. Be sure to use lots of onion and gorgonzola for flavor. A few bits of crumbled bacon or pancetta would be nice also and maybe a touch of maple syrup with the squash...

Get creative!

This Kuri is mature as you can see by the seeds. They can be roasted like pumpkin seeds.

These are the roasted squash pieces. They are delicious, and I had to control myself in order to leave enough to make the tart!!

This is the unbaked tart in the puff pastry.

And this is the finished tart. Note how the free form expands!

Enjoy your tarts!

Sola Gina