Recipe Review from 11/9/09

Two more recipes from last week and both made waaayy more than I had anticipated! I’m still eating the soup this week for lunches - not that I’m complaining! I was gone all weekend to the Cites so having lunches already for the week was a big help. The spinach pie made a 9x13" pan and I tried my best to eat it all but just couldn't finish it before I left town.

If you click on the links provided, it will take you to the recipe with a picture.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from, Ckng Lght, Nov 09) 4.0
I made significant changes to this recipe. You can link to the original recipe above. I cubed and roasted the squash rather than bake whole, I roasted the garlic, I caramelized the onions, and I used parsnips instead of potatoes because I have a slew of them in my garden.

Results? Very good. I wish I had thought to roast the onion along with the squash but I didn’t. Next time.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
• 2 1/2-pound butternut squash
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• Small head of garlic
• 4 cups Vegetable Stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups coarsely chopped peeled Yukon gold potatoes (or parsnips)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Peel squash and discard seeds; cut into 1” cubes. Place in roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400° for 30-45 minutes or until tender. Mash pulp. Cut top off garlic to expose bulbs (do not peel or separate), place on piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap and roast along with squash.

3. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 10 minutes or until nicely caramelized. Add Roasted Vegetable Stock, water, and potatoe/parsnips. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20-30 minutes or until potato/parnsips are tender, stirring occasionally. Let stand 10 minutes.

4. (IF you don’t have an immersion blender do this.) Place one-third of vegetable mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure twice with remaining squash mixture. Return pureed mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.


Spinach Pie with Goat Cheese, Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins (Ckng Lght, Nov 09) 4.0
I didn’t change this much at all – the only thing I did differently was substitute 6 oz of queso seco cheese for 6 oz goat cheese as I didn’t have the full amount of goat cheese (I needed 12oz). I also only used four bags of spinach rather than five as cooked spinach can get a bit overpowering. As I made this the same day as the soup above, I wish I had roasted some additional garlic to go with it. I think that would have added some nice background flavor. This wasn’t as putsy as it looks. Just make sure you pick a BIG pan/pot to cook those five bags of spinach down. And having a Misto oil sprayer really makes final phyllo dough assembly a snap. I didn’t serve anything along side, but some carrots or sweet potato would have made a nice colorful side dish. I did drizzle honey over the top – yum yum!

Spinach Pie with Goat Cheese, Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins
Ingredients
• 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
• 2 cups minced onion (about 1 large)
• 5 (9-ounce) packages fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups (8 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
• Cooking spray

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add spinach, 1 bag at a time; cook 3 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring frequently. Simmer spinach mixture 40 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in raisins. Remove from heat; cool completely. Stir in cheese, nuts, salt, and pepper.

3. Press 1 phyllo sheet into bottom and up sides of a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray (cover remaining dough to keep from drying); lightly coat phyllo with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 7 phyllo sheets. Spread spinach mixture in an even layer onto phyllo. Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board or work surface (cover remaining dough to keep from drying); lightly brush with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. Repeat procedure with the remaining 3 phyllo sheets and the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Place phyllo layer over spinach mixture; tuck in sides to enclose spinach fully. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes.


On deck for this week: Spicy Shrimp with polenta (Eating Well) and Pecan Crusted Trout (I think). It might be another soup. I forget so just stay tuned!