Winter is coming, they said. Hell, yeah! It’s freezing cold these days. And in the South of France, it is not a nice dry cold like the cold you can enjoy in the mountains. Nah, it’s the distasteful humid cold, the one that penetrates your bones and haunts the inside of your apartment’s walls for ages even after the cold wave is long gone. That one. I hate it right now. And I heard it is not over yet. Snow might be falling over the Mediterranean coast next week. That occurs once every 7-8 years around here. Let’s get prepared.

Winter is here, and with the season and the snow, the PyeongChang Olympics have occupied almost all of my evenings lately. The Games have come with their share of medals and excitement for France, one third of them won by the Biathlon atheletes alone. This led me to having nice reminiscing memories of my weekend trip in December 2017 when with my mom we went to Le Grand Bornand and attended the Biathlon World Cup. To fight the cold, my mother fed us at night with a homemade pumpkin soup as a warm vegetarian entrée, and I must say I liked it but did not go crazy for it.

On the other hand, my husband and I had traveled to Toulouse a month before that last year, and when we went for dinner to the 2 star-Chef Yannick Delpech’s restaurant, Jerome has tried the creamy squash soup, and that one I loved! It simply was a piece of art for the taste buds! I had a leftover piece of squash in the fridge tonight but did not feel like roasting it, and honestly the weather was so cold that I thought I’d give it a try and make my own Creamy Squash Soup. In order to top the soup with a bit of crunch and to enhance the squash flavor, I used hazelnuts however it ought to be roasted chestnuts, absolutely. Although my soup was not as top-notch as Chef Delpech’s, but I love the color I achieved; as for the soup it was very nice, smooth, creamy and tasty. And so healthy of course! Nothing beats homemade food. It’s always made with love.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 Squash (the reddish one)
• boiling water
• a bit of milk
• 10 cream of light cream
• salt
• chestnuts
• 1 tsp of four-spices mix

RECIPE

1. Carefully peel the squash and cut it into chunks.
2. Boil water in a large saucepan and cook the squash in it for about 25 minutes with salt and the four-spices mix.
3. In an electric mixer, purée the squash with a little bit of the cooking water. Discard the remaining water.
4. Add a bit of milk, combine and adjust until you reach the consistency you like best.
5. Pour the squash purée back into the saucepan, heat on low and add the light cream.
6. Adjust the salt if needed.
7. Serve the creamy squash soup in two bowls.
8. Chop the chestnuts and sprinkle over the soup.
9. Eat immediately and warm.

Created and Written by Sophie Rebibo-Halimi. © 2018 All Rights Reserved.