Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

 I could have titled this how to destroy a KitchenAid blender in one easy lesson. When pureeing the butternut squash in the is recipe I filled the blender 1/2 full as per the instructions. I then pureed the squash. It was very thick so I added a little more liquid and threw the switch. I heard a grinding sound and  noticed nothing in the blender was moving. I immediately switched the blender off. When I lifted the container off the base and found a bunch of ground up plastic. The teeth that make the blades turn were destroyed. Luckily I have a food processor and was able to finish pureeing the squash. Since the blender was a few years old we threw it out, as it turns out you can buy replacement gear and we could have just replaced that gear. We looked at the new models and they no longer have that type of gear to drive the blades.

This is a very simple soup with lots of flavor sweetness from squash, savory from red peppers, spice from hot sauce.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup
1 2-3 lb butternut squash
2 red bell peppers, cut in half cored and cleaned, or used purchased
Liquid to make soup consistency you want. I like it thick, so I added 1 can flow fat condensed milk and some 1/2 and 1/2. You could add milk, vegetable or chicken broth or even water. The size of the squash will also make a difference in how much liquid you need, so you are going to have to use your judgment on this.
Dash of hot sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in 1/2 and clean out the seeds and stringy gunk. Cut each half into 1 inch pieces. Toss squash pieces with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. If roasting peppers toss them with oil but don't add them to cookie sheet yet. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes until squash is caramelized. Add the peppers with 25 minutes to go, but watch them so they don't burn (the skin might get black and start to peel). Remove any large pieces of burnt skin from peppers.

Add enough squash and some red pepper to blender to fill it 1/2 of the way. Add some liquid and puree. pour this into a saucepan. Keep doing this until all of the squash and red pepper has been pureed. Heat over medium heat until soup is hot. Add hot sauce until it is to your liking.

Serve immediately.

  

Grilled Vegetable Pasta

This dish is a good way to use up leftover vegetables. The ingredients I list below can be changed for just about any vegetables you have in your house. Try for about 4 cups of veggies for 8 ounces of pasta. The recipe below is for 8 ounces of pasta and feed 2 with enough left over for a lunch.

Grilled Vegetable Pasta

1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" pieces so you have 1/2 moons

1 yellow squash, cut just like zucchini

1/2 small red onion cut into slices and the rings separated

cherry tomatoes

Mushrooms, cut the hard end off from the stem and then slice mushrooms

1 red pepper, cut into 1" pieces

1 yellow pepper, cut into 1" pieces

olive oil, enough to lightly coat the vegetables

1 tbs mixed dried herbs (basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, etc) I use dried here because they will be cooked on the grill. If you want to use fresh herbs add them after the veggies are grilled or as you are removing the veggies from the grill.

Parmesan curls for garnish.

Put a pot of water on to boil.

Start your grill.

Chop the veggies. Put veggies in a bowl and sprinkle with enough olive oil on them to coat the veggies. Add the herbs to the vegetables.

When the water boils add salt to the water, it should taste like the sea, I use about a table spoon. Add the pasta to the water. Put the veggies on the grill.

When the pasta is al dente remove it from the water and drain. Toss the veggies with the pasta when they are done. Put in the serving dish and drizzle with olive oil. Then with a potato peeler shave some parmesan cheese curls over the pasta.