Butternut Squash Soup

It’s official. It’s fall in SF. Normally, I’m really excited for fall but since summer skipped us i’m not quite ready for the wind and rain, but it came in crazy storm form yesterday so what better than some fall soup and i do love me some butternut squash soup.

Butternut Squash Soup:

Ingredients:

2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, seeded, diced

2 pieces of bacon

1 leek, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 bay leaf

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup water

2 tbsps creme fraiche

chives

1) In a pan, cook bacon until crisp and drain, reserving 1 1/2 tablespoons fat. Crumble bacon.

2) In a pot, cook onion, leek, garlic, and bay leaf with salt and pepper to taste in reserved fat over moderate heat, stirring, until softened.

3) Add squash, apple, broth, and 1/2 cup water. Simmer mixture, covered, until squash is very tender, about 15 minutes, and discard bay leaf.

4) In a blender, purée mixture in batches, transferring to a clean saucepan.

5) Whisk in crème fraîche and salt and pepper to taste and heat soup over moderately low heat until hot.

6) Serve soup topped with crumbled bacon, chives and more creme fraiche if you want.

Shrimp w/ Cannelini & Pancetta and Baked Polenta with Mozzarella

Beretta is a sorta new restaurant in the Mission that does ‘Delfina’ style pizza.  I say their pizza is ok but their appetizers are amazing! We went back awhile ago and among the many things we ordered these 2 stood out: scampi with pancetta & cannellini and baked polenta with gorgonzola. soooo, i decided it didn’t seem that difficult and i would try recreate it since i started craving it immediately.

Shrimp with cannelini & pancetta:

Ingredients:

10 medium sized shrimps shells off and deveined (no frozen!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lemons

2 shallots, diced

2 tsps red pepper flakes

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup basil, chopped

1 can of white/cannelini beans

1/4 cup of italian parsley, chopped

1/2 cup of pancetta

2 tsps, dried oregano

s&p

olive oil

1) Marinate the shrimp with s&p, olive oil, 1/2 of the minced garlic, and 1/2 lemon juiced for about 10 minutes to an hour

2) In a large skillet, cook the shrimp literally about 1 minute on each side. overcooked shrimp is never good and set aside.

3) In the same pan, cook the pancetta until it starts to get crispy and set aside leaving some of the fat.

4) In the same pan, add the shallot and garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes.

5) Add the red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.

6) Add the tomato and saute for about 3 minutes.

7) Add the drained beans, basil and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes. Taste and see if it needs more s&p.

Stir in the shrimp just to reheat and add the rest of the lemon juice.

9) Garnish with the parsley and basil and serve with some crusty baguette.

Baked Polenta with Mozzarella:

Ingredients: 

I could not for the life of me find polenta anywhere not TJ’s, not Safeway, not Whole Foods, not even a specialty store – there must have been a polenta shortage that particular day, so I used instant Polenta. The only thing they had at Safeway.

1 log of fresh mozzarella

2 cups of tomato sauce (i used from my reserves)

1) In a baking dish, ladle the 2 cups of tomato sauce on the bottom

2) Cut the polenta into 1/4 inch thick slices and arrange in the baking dish. Sprinkle a little s&p

3) Cut the mozzarella into thick slices but thinner than 1/4 inch thick and layer on top of the polenta. Sprinkle with a little s&p.

4) Bake in the oven according to the polenta package instructions. Check to make sure the mozzarella is nice and melted and bubbly.

What made the dish at Beretta was the polenta and sauce. I couldn’t find the right polenta but the instant satisfied my craving and got the job done. The tomato sauce reserves I used covered up for the instant polenta and of course the cheese.