Crema De Calabaza Creamy Squash Soup Recipes

GOLDEN SQUASH BLOSSOM CREMA: CREMA DE FLORES DE CALABAZA

Steps:

• The broth: In a 4-quart soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Scoop out half of the onion and set aside. Add the broth and potato, partially cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
• The blossoms: While the broth is simmering, clean the squash blossoms: break off the stems, then the little green sepals that come out from the base of the blossoms (they originally covered the buds). Use your fingers to break loose the long pistils in the center of each flower and discard. With a very sharp knife, cut the blossoms cross-wise into 1/4-inch strips, including the bulbous base.
• Add half the blossoms to the broth and simmer 3 minutes. In a food processor or in batches in a loosely covered blender (or using an immersion blender), puree the mixture; return to the pot.
• The chiles: Roast the chiles directly over the gas flame, on a medium-hot gas grill, or 4 inches below a very hot broiler. Turn occasionally, until blistered and blackened on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes for the flame or grill, about 10 minutes for the broiler. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand about 5 minutes. Peel off the charred skin, cut out the seed pod, then quickly rinse to remove straggling bits of skin and seeds. Cut into 1/4-inch dice.
• Finishing the soup: Add the chiles to the soup along with the milk and reserved onion; bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini and corn, simmer a couple of minutes, then add the remaining squash blossoms. Simmer a couple of minutes longer (the strips of blossom will soften into deep-golden "streamers"), remove from the heat, stir in the cream, taste, and season with salt. Serve in warm bowls garnished with the chopped epazote or parsley.

CREMA DE CALABAZINES

Steps:

• Clean and quarter zucchini and potatoes. Peel and chop onion. In a large pot boil zucchini, potatoes and onion in water (just covering them) until very tender. Drain vegetables, but retain stock.
• In a blender, or with a hand blender, puree the cheese, zucchini, potatoes, onion and bouillon while adding stock, until desired consistency is reached. (If you're using a blender, do this in two batches.)
• Pour mixture back into large pot and bring to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

CREMA DE CALABAZA (CREAMY SQUASH SOUP)

Steps:

• Boil 1 L water in a saucepan.
• Cut squash into cubes.
• Cut off top and bottom of carrots, peel them and cut them into 1/3-inch-thick disks.
• Clean the leak, reserve a part of it for garnish and slice the rest.
• Peel the potato and cut into stew chunks.
• Add vegetables to saucepan, add 2 tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste. Cover and let cook 25 minutes on medium heat.
• Remove vegetables from heat. Blend with hand blender until smooth and creamy. Before serving in bowls, garnish surface with fine strips of leek.

CREAM OF ZUCCHINI SOUP

Steps:

• Place chopped zucchini or squash in a skillet, add one cup of water, and cover. Turn heat to medium-high; once it starts boiling, reduce heat to low. Keep cooking until zucchini or squash is tender, but not overcook. It should look firm and still have a bright color. This step will take about 8 minutes total.
• While the vegetables are cooking, heat butter and oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat until butter is melting. Add the onion and garlic and cook until transparent, about 2 minutes.
• Add flour and stir until flour has a light golden color. Pour milk and chicken broth into the saucepan and stir to dissolve the flour mixture, about one minute.
• Remove zucchini/squash from skillet and drain any liquid left. Place into a blender with the milk combination. Process until you have a fine mixture.
• Pour this mixture into the saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Keep cooking, stirring from time to time. Let it simmer on a warm heat setting for about 6-8 minutes until soup starts to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

SQUASH BLOSSOM CREPES (CREPAS DE FLOR DE CALABAZA)

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the eggs, milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt, melted butter, and flour into a blender. Blend until no dry lumps of flour remain in the batter. Scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Heat an oiled, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour in enough batter to cover half of the skillet. Tip and rotate the skillet until the batter covers the entire area. Cook until the batter turns from wet to moist, and the edges begin to curl away from the sides of the skillet. Turn the crepe over, and continue cooking until lightly golden on the other side. Place the crepe onto a plate, and cover with a kitchen towel to keep moist. Repeat with the remaining batter, lightly oiling the skillet as needed to keep the crepes from sticking.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth, and simmer until reduced to half its original volume. Stir in the chopped zucchini blossoms, cover, and cook a few minutes until the squash blossoms have softened and reduced in volume. Stir in the tomato, nutmeg, and epazote until the tomato begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Roll about 2 tablespoons of zucchini filling in each crepe, and place into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour the half-and-half cream evenly over top of the crepes, and sprinkle with grated Manchego cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, tenting if necessary so the foil does not touch the cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the crepes are hot and the cheese has melted, about 10 minutes.