The SquaCarrot Soup (Squash and Carrot Soup)

Heto akooooooooo basang basa sa ulaaaaaaaaaan! Walang masisilungaaaaaaan, walang makakapitaaaaaan!

Ay.. sorry!!! Naku.. ehem. ehem.. I just got carried away. It's raining cats and dogs here and the wind is blowing so damn hard... and the soundtrack in my head is this famous jukebox song of one of my favorite jukebox groups. Haha!

I know it should have been "Raindrops keep falling on my head..." or "APO Hiking Society's "Pumapatak nanaman ang (j)ulan sa bubong ng bahay..." Hehe.. Maybe next time!

We all know that nothing beats a warm soup on a rainy day. May it be chicken soup, Nilaga, Sinigang, your Lucky Me Instant Noodles or your D-I-Y a.k.a. "Maski Paps" soup. :)

I am a BIG fan of the famous CIBO squash soup ~ Crema Di Zucca (summer squash, cream and bacon slab... Hello Tita Gaita! Etchos feeling close!) but when hubby took me to Felix (naks, nag date kami!), I fell in love with their Fuyubare - a mix of Pumpkin, Carrots and Chestnuts. So the recipe copycat in me wanted to try it at home, and just made a few changes to make it slightly original ;)

I like the Fuyubare because there's that sweet kick in the soup from the carrots that I wouldn't normally taste from a squash soup. Also, here in my world, I can only grab the native kalabasa from my suking palengke. Therefore, I have no access to any pumpkin , nor the summer, winter and autumn squash. Unless someone will be so kind to give me some. hihi. OR if hubby will take me to the Salcedo or Legaspi weekend market sometime soon. (OO, nagpaparinig ako!)

I am not a chestnut girl so this is X'd out but the major ones of course stays on stage - mr. squash and ms. carrots.

I call this The SquaCarrot Soup (say it using your call center accent, c'mon! Squakheret!)

On the photo I used:

Squash/Kalabasa about 1/4 K, cut in cubes
3 medium sized carrots, cut in cuubes
1 tbsp of butter
1 medium sized white onion, minced
Roasted Green and Red Bell Peppers, chopped
Squash and Carrot broth
1 Knorr Beef Cube
Nestlé All Purpose Cream (1 small carton)
Fresh Milk, about half a cup
a few dashes of Nutmeg to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parley Flakes for garnishing

The Way:
Boil the squash and carrots until tender then set aside the veggies and the broth.

On medium heat, in your pot, melt the butter and saute the onions and the roasted bell peppers.
Add the boiled squash and carrots and a bit of the broth, then simmer for about 5 minutes.

After simmering, put the mixture into your electric blender and purée it. Otherwise, you can also use your fork or potato masher (less kitchen tools to wash! saves electricity too!)

Then put the mixture again in the pot, then add some more broth until it looks "soupy" enough, then add the rest of the ingredients: Knorr Beef Cube, All Purpose Cream, Fresh Milk, about half, a few dashes of Nutmeg, Salt and Pepper to taste then bring to a boil. CAREFUL and don't come too close to the pot, the soup pops when it's really boiling hot! I know, natalsikan na kasi ako!

Note: If you don't want the soup to be very creamy, just lessen the amount of the all purpose cream and add more of the veggie broth.

Put the parsley flakes on top and some more pepper if you want when you are about to serve.

Best with croutons, or toasted garlic bread, or pair it with rice and fried fish or rice and roasted chicken! Yum! (bakit laging may kanin? hehe!)

Hope you can try this at home!

Now back to singing... :)