As it’s steadily getting colder and wet snow is descending upon the city, I’m anticipating a frigid apartment when I get home. The thought of creating a soothing, golden soup, or as I like to call it, potage, entices me more than tonight’s originally planned dinner of roasted carrots, yellow cauliflower and acorn squash. In the soup pot, carrots, onions, and fresh rosemary will slowly sauté in a dot of butter and a pinch of cinnamon, while acorn squash and cauliflower, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, slowly roast, so as to lend nutty, caramelized depth to the soup. When the onions and carrots are perfectly sweet and tender, in goes 3 or so cups of homemade chicken broth in which the carrots will simmer until they are soft enough to puree. After the cauliflower and acorn squash are soft enough, they will be added to the carrots and broth, and all will be whirled in a blender (in several batches so as to not blow the top of the blender by the hot liquid), garnished with ground pepper, a touch of smoked cheese, and served with a piece or two of crusty, sourdough bread, and it will wrap Shane in a blanket of bliss.
Sunny, hearty and rich without the use of cream (although I did sprinkle a bit of smoked cheese over the top), The potage was the perfect heater for our chilly evening. The more I savored the soup, the more I enjoyed the flavor, down to the last scrapings in the pot. At the point my stomach could not hold anymore, the soup tasted its best. Unfortunately the cheese did not compliment with a rich, smoky flavor as I had anticipated, although the smoothness of the cheese did pair well with the velvety soup. Cheese is not a necessity to enjoy this soup, but if I must, next time I will try a Stilton or perhaps a nutty Comté.
After exchanging a few mmms and sighs, Shane and I agee this potage is a keeper, especially during the cold months inside our apartment.
