Velouté de Potiron au Pommes

A velvety smoooooth soup of pumpkin and apple; a classic fall preparation.  Here I mound a serving of creamy cannelloni beans in the center of a wide shallow bowl and pour the velvety soup around it.  Garnished with pico de gallo fresh salsa, or fresh tomatoes, gives a cool, slightly picante offset to the buttery flavors underneath.  The beans also help make this a complete, satisfying meal.

8 cups potiron squash, peeled and cubed (about 1/3 of a Long Island Cheese squash - reserve remainder for another use)
1 large sweet Vidalia onion, cubed
2 leeks, cleaned, and diced
1 large apple, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken broth
2-3 cups water, as needed
1 cup creme fraiche

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup fresh pico de gallo salsa, or diced fresh tomato

Heat a glug of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the leek and 1/4 cup water. Cook until the water evaporates and the leek begins to soften, about 5-8 minutes. Add the onion and continue cooking on medium-low heat for another 10 minutes, until the onion softens and browns up just a bit.
Meanwhile, in a separate large non-stick skillet, sauté about 2-3 cups of the squash in a good glug of olive oil. Make sure the squash is in a single layer with some air in between the cubes, or you will boil, instead of brown the pieces.

This cooking is meant to brown up a few of the cubes of squash to add to the caramelization and sweetness of the soup. Not all the squash will be browned (unless you have all day!), just a few representatives, to liven up the flavor.

Cook the squash for about 5-8 minutes and then add the apple and two cloves minced garlic and cook another 5-8 minutes. This browning brings out the apple sugars as well. Make sure there is sautéing going on (with some light sizzling) rather than boiling, which will not flavor the dish much. Add oil to achieve this and/or remove squash to achieve space between the chunks.

Now combine the skillet ingredients into the large soup pot with the onions and leeks. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour.

Meanwhile, heat another glug of olive oil in a medium soup pan and add the other 2 cloves minced garlic and the rosemary.

Cook about 2 minutes and add the cannellini beans. Simmer on low until the soup is ready, stirring often to assure the beans do not stick.

After the squash soup has cooked an hour, pureé the soup with an emersion blender (or use a blender or food processesor - VERY CAREFULLY - as the soup is boiling hot).

Now plate the soup - pile about a cup of beans in the center of each large, shallow bowl. Carefully pour a generous portion of soup around the mountain of beans, but do not cover (the beans should stand high). Garnish with just a bit of pico de gallo salsa, or fresh tomato chunks.

Serves 6-8.

Cook's Note:  I used a so-called "Long Island Cheese" pumpkin, one of the family of cucurbita moschata squash, to which also belongs the butternut squash.  These are popular in Provence, southern France, and most definitely have a richer flavor and color than standard halloween pumpkins (or sugar pumpkins).  Harder to peel, and leaving a bit more waste in the process, they are still definitely worth the effort!  We are seeing them more and more in markets in the fall. As a second choice I'd use a butternut squash.