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Kabocha veloute soup

Time2 hours 25 minutes
YieldsServes 6
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The word itself is delicious -- veloute, veh-loo-TAY. If you were in Paris, you’d see them on the menus in bistro after brasserie after restaurant. Velvety, creamy soups, sometimes classic, sometimes more inventive -- chestnut-celeriac with foie gras and cacao, or white bean showered with matchstick-size pieces of black truffle, or a veloute of porcini mushrooms with lardo di Colonnata and fatty-spicy ham from the valley of Les Aldudes in the Pays Basque (poured from a glass carafe at the table, no less).

On a recent wintry day, I spent an afternoon at a bistro by the Seine. Lunch began with a creamy chestnut veloute topped with a fat, toasty griddle cake stuffed with creme fraiche. It was warming, gently rich and deeply satisfying. I then found myself ordering bowlfuls of veloute all over the city.

Veloute sounds fancy, but it’s easy enough to make. The point is to get the right consistency -- a not-too-thick, creamy-velvety texture -- as well as concentrated flavor. Knowing the basic construction of veloute lets you improvise with whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. Try a veloute made with cremini and oyster mushrooms, punctuated with a little garlic and rosemary; or a soulful white-bean soup finished with cream and a little Gruyere cheese. Go elegant with kabocha soup dressed with a dollop of sour cream; slender, buttery croutons; and a light sprinkling of piment d’espelette (dried red Basque chile).

In the fall, definitely chestnut veloute, and in the summer, chilled avocado. Or even a Brazilian-style cashew soup from James Peterson’s “Splendid Soups” that is basically a veloute -- roasted cashews pureed with cooked onions and garlic, added to chicken broth and finished with coconut milk.

Sauce veloute is a light stock that has been thickened with white roux -- flour cooked in butter. Veloute soup traditionally is a pureed vegetable soup made with broth, thickened with a little flour and finished with cream and egg yolks. (Cream soups are made with milk as the liquid instead of broth.)

But it’s a flexible formula. Flour often helps thicken the soup and gives it a smooth texture, but you don’t always need it. A tablespoon of flour goes into the mushroom veloute to add body, but for a kabocha squash or white-bean soup, the vegetables (or legumes) themselves make a thick enough puree. Be careful not to over-process the vegetables in your blender or food processor; it’ll make the puree too viscous.

The mushroom soup is finished classically with cream and a little egg. But butter swirled into the kabocha veloute a little bit at a time at the end of cooking gives it extra smoothness and adds another dimension of flavor, bringing out the butteryness of the squash. Gruyere and cream enrich the white-bean soup -- the cheese stirred in just until it melts and then finished with the cream. So veloute.

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1

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the garlic in a small bowl with the olive oil and set aside.

2

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauce pot until melted. Add the celery, carrots and onion and saute over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3

Add the squash to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the squash is tender.

4

While the soup simmers, make croutons by cutting the bread slices into 12 (half-inch by 4-inches) strips. Brush the cut sides of the bread with the garlic-infused oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.

5

When the squash is tender, puree the soup in a blender or food processor, in batches if necessary. Return the soup to the pot. Add the remaining butter, bit by bit, to the soup, swirling until each piece is incorporated and the soup is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

6

To serve, spoon about three-fourths cup soup into each of 6 soup bowls. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of piment d’espelette. Sprinkle parsley over the croutons, then place 2 croutons on top. Serve immediately.