Butternut, Peppers, and Kale Soup

This is a good "New World" soup, using several ingredients that are native to the Americas. One of these is pozole. Pozole (also called hominy) is still a common ingredient in Mexican cooking today. It's corn which is processed by soaking in lime, which removes the hull and the germ. Pozole is not sweet like fresh corn, and has more substance and mouth feel. It is also starchier, which makes it a good thickener for this soup.

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
3 or 4 Anaheim or Ancho/Poblano dried peppers
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb of kale roughly chopped
2 cups dried pozole
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel and cube the squash. Toss the cubes with about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Spread them out on a sheet pan so they don't touch. Bake them for about 25 minutes until they are tender and a little brown on the edges.

3. While the squash is baking, briefly soak the peppers in about 1 or 2 cups of hot water. When they soften a little, pull them from the water, but save the water. Chop the peppers into small pieces.

4. In a stockpot add the rest of the olive oil, the chopped yellow onion, and the garlic. When the onions and garlic are cooked, add the kale and cook a little longer until it is wilted.

5. Add the stock and the pozole to the pot and simmer until the pozole has absorbed some of the broth and become tender. When the pozole is fully reconstituted, add the baked butternut squash. The roasted squash cubes will fall apart in the soup, making it even thicker. At this point if you want the soup to be thinner, you can use the chili water to thin it . Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 6.

A Lindencroft Farm Kitchen original recipe.

Last updated: February 25, 2007