Orange-Scented Winter Squash and Carrot Soup

Delicious. I used wild rice. Not a fan of quinoa, really.

Roast half of the squash for depth of flavout. Cube it, season with kosher salt, pepper and olive oil, and roast for 30 minutes at 375 F. Add it to the post at the beginning of step 2.

I love this soup, and I wanted to make a double recipe, but was short of time, so I opted for the Speedy Version (less chopping!). I cut the carrots, onion, and butternut squash in half, and roasted them. While they were cooking, I simmered the bouquet garni and the potato in the vegetable broth. When the roasted vegetables were soft, I put everything together in a stock pot and used an immersion blender to puree. Twice the volume, all the flavor, in half the time.

Like someone else who commented, I used a sweet potato. When the store surprisingly didn’t have any winter squash, I subbed with an additional 1 lb carrots and 1 lb sweet potatoes. Highly recommend taking the time to squeeze orange juice (I used Cara Cara oranges). Also, I never have cheesecloth when I need it, so all the spices and orange peel went in loose-using an immersion blender kicked them up and made them easy enough to pick out.

I am a huge admirer of both Mr. Ottolenghi and Ms. Shulman, so I was excited to find this recipe. It turned out beautifully - the flavor, the aroma and the silky texture were all wonderful. I followed the lead of AnnP and roasted my butternut squash (fresh from the garden), and included a roasted apple. The bouquet garni in this recipe adds soooo much flavor - I may start using it in more of my soups.

Needs more orange zest. Pistachio oil? Not brilliant. Try some finely diced orange zest and a dollop of yogurt.

Used a sweet potato instead of regular. Added small amount of fresh ginger to herb bundle Garnished with wild rice.

Made as written with Wegmans vegetable stock instead of water.. Used 2 Japanese squashes that I roasted in the oven . Quarter and drizzled with oil before roasting. About 10 medium size carrots, 1/2 onion and no garlic. 3/4 tbsp of salt. The rest is as written . A little too sweet , but it could be because I used no garlic . Next time I will use less orange juice , more salt , little pepper, spices, maybe a little lemon juice Overall I like it

We used our favorite no-peel winter squash, delicata. Then we turned it into a fine cold-winter’s-day dinner by not thinning it, and adding a half-cup quinoa — the red we could find, not black, tossed with walnut oil — to each bowl. Sprinkled with sharp paprika to complement the final cayenne, the soup was smooth hearty but full of spice and texture.

Made this tonight with these adaptations:
Took the advice from another cook and roasted the butternut squash with ground allspice (whole is hard to find here) and cinnamon.
Directions don't say what to do with the potato so I chopped it, leaving skin on.
Couldn't find black quinoa, so used a box mix of regular quinoa (50%) rice and sesame. Didn't have pistachio oil, so sprinkled chopped pistachio nuts on top, which gave it a nice crunch and more protein.

Made this last week as a trial run for Thanksgiving. A hit w adults.
- It's fine to use frozen squash (and saves a ton of time)
- I'm roasting the squash with a little ground allspice and cardamom - going for a deeper flavor.
- I'll put it through a sieve to get rid of the final little lumps
- I'll thin it to use as a "soup shooter" appetizer, and use thinned sour cream and minced parsley as garnish - less ick factor for the kiddos, I think, than black quinoa.

This is a lovely light soup with wonderful orange flavour. I added more orange juice and finished with some finely grated orange rind. It was a big hit.

I served this at a dinner party - to rave reviews. One diner thought it was fancy-restaurant worthy. I went a little easy on the cardamon pods, as I was afraid they would overpower the soup, but next time I'll use them all.