I’m a self proclaimed spice addict. If there is a spice shop anywhere I’m visiting you can rest assured I’ll be going in. I love buying custom blends to remind me of the places I’ve visited – Lake Geneva Spice Blend (like Old Bay), Napa Valley Rub (the best Italian blend), and various seafood blends from Alaska are just a few in my collection. I even received from my parents RawSpiceBar’s monthly blends for a Christmas gift. I love spices. Why? Because while the initial investment can be pricey a little goes a long way and they will transform simple ingredients into something amazing. This is especially true if you use whole spices where you can and grind them up in a mortar and pestle – yes it is another dirty dish, but once you smell the difference once you will never go back.
Just look at how pretty they are…
I decided to make this to use up some butternut squash from our CSA. Our CSA is amazing and in the winter provides frozen already pureed squash which really simplifies prep. The recipe I used from TheKitchn’s Emma Christensen – http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southwestern-butternut-squash-soup-recipes-from-the-kitchn-213095 – walks you through how to work with a whole squash. I love the freshness of that, but know that the near butchery act of deconstructing a butternut squash can be a huge deterrent in trying a dish like this. Many grocery stores have frozen squash puree. It was a staple of mine in college and would be perfect here.
I didn’t make any changes aside from starting with puree from TheKitchn’s recipe. In my experience their recipes are generally spot-on so I don’t alter them unless I’m missing an ingredient and need to do so. If I were to make this for one of my good friends who is spice adverse I’d use extra paprika instead of the cayenne. I always do that when working with the spice averse then you add flavor instead of just removing spice. I also pretty much always use greek yogurt in place of sour cream for a topper, for the most part you can’t tell the difference. I found it was perfect with just cilantro and the greek yogurt on top.
