Monday:                  Butternut Squash with White Bean Soup

Tuesday:                  Spinach Meatballs with Pasta

Wednesday:          Leftover Soup with Grilled Cheese and Prosciutto Sandwich

Thursday:                Parmesan Chicken

Friday:                      Retreat at Richmond Farm, through Sunday Lunch

Sunday:                   Short Rib Ragù with Pappardelle and Dressed Arugula

Going Native

[About that picture above ‘Friday’ – every year, about this time, my friend Chris hosts a retreat at his place in the country:  a great house with breathtaking 360 degree views of Westmoreland and some of Somerset County and the high-ridge of the Laurel Mountains to the East, a fireplace for the chilly nights out there and a chapel for Mass and prayers.  Chris and his friend Judd arrange for a priest to join us and lead the retreat.  The resident cook, John, feeds us royally, and those of us privileged to be invited have a distraction-free time to examine the state of our souls and lives and to get help in finding our way to heaven or retreating from the road in the opposite direction.  The picture shows the attendees and John, the cook, on the far left  and his assistant, Trouty, in the middle.  I’m not in the picture, because I’m taking it.]

And now, turning from the spiritual to the earthly – It turns out that the staple foods of the North and Central American natives pre-European discovery, were corn, beans and squash.*  Last week’s best dinner was a soup of white beans and squash.  I’d like to say that I was experimenting with native foods, but that’s not true and that’s not at all how I operate.  But, having accidentally used two of the three sisters,* I am feeling fairly righteous – not up to a land acknowledgement repentance just yet, but ready to admit that Custer had issues.

*The native American’s ‘three sisters’ system of agriculture was ingenious – the corn, planted first, provided a natural trellis for the bean vines, and the beans replenished the nitrogen that the corn and squash took from the soil.  The squash leaves spread across the ground and suppressed weeds and helped to retain moisture.  After the settlers came, in a great, civilized leap forward, the new staple foods became rum and Cheetos.

I will admit that people who tend toward land acknowledgements – the New York Times cooking editors – have convinced me of the wonders of squash over the last decade or so, in spite of their self-righteous politics.   Oven-roasted squash is a delicious addition to most any meal, and butternut squash soup is a favorite at Casa Stuarti.  (Local Provisions makes a dynamite version of this sweet-savory concoction.)

The soup described below in addition to puréed squash, the usual method of making a soup from gourds, contains bite-sized chunks of roasted squash. 

Don’t skip the pesto, which brings a wonderfully earthy herbiness to the dish.  We didn’t, but you could, add a handful of roasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) to each bowl for a little texture and to go full-squash, so to speak.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

(adapted from “The Complete Beans and Grains Cookbook” by America’s Test Kitchen)

Timing:                                 A little more or less than 1 hour

Ingredients:                                            Serves 4

For the Pesto:

    ½ cup toasted cashews,    2 garlic cloves (we used garlic powder),    1 cup parsley leaves,    ½ cup cilantro leaves

   ½ cup grated parmesan plus more for serving,    ½ cup olive oil (we used a bit less)

For the soup:

   1 butternut squash, peeled (2lbs. or so)

   2 leeks, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise and sliced thin

   4 cups vegetable broth (we used chicken broth),    3 cups water,    4 tablespoons butter,    1 tablespoon soy sauce

   1 tablespoon vegetable oil,    1 tablespoon tomato paste,    2 garlic cloves, minced,    2 cans canellini beans un-drained

   1 teaspoon champagne vinegar,    ¾ teaspoon salt,    ¼ teaspoon pepper  

Note: we used salt and much more pepper – but adjust the seasonings to your taste

Prep:

Make the pesto – pulse nuts and garlic in a food processor until coarsely chopped – 5 pulses.  Add the parsley and cilantro leaves and, with the motor running slowly add the oil until incorporated – you don’t want either a dry or a loose pesto, so adjust oil accordingly.

Now peel the squash: Cut the round, bulb section off, halve it lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and cut each half into 4 wedges.

Cook:

In a pan, bring the squash wedges, broth, water and soy sauce to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium, partially cover and simmer vigorously until squash is very tender and beginning to fall apart – about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and mash squash until completely broken down – a potato masher is useful here.

While you are simmering the squash wedges (see above), cut the neck of the squash into ½-inch pieces.  Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium until shimmering.  Add the leeks and tomato paste and cook until leeks are softened – 5 minutes or so, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then add the squash pieces and salt and pepper and cook, stirring from time to time, for about 5 minutes.

Now add the squash broth and bring to a simmer, partially cover and cook for 10 minutes. 

Add the beans and their liquid and cook, stirring from time to time until pieces of squash are just tender (you want some chew) – 15 minutes or a bit longer. 

Stir in the vinegar, correct the seasonings and serve, passing the pesto and extra parmesan.