Spicy Squash Soup

It happened again, a pattern is starting to emerge. SO thinks up a great idea for dinner, finds a recipe that sounds good, and lets me cook it.  I'll go even further and say there is inevitably a few ingredients we don't have, or there is something I don't like about the method - so I'll start the substituting game. Sometimes it is something we can't eat (SO and bell peppers, or me and grapefruit), or prefer not to eat, such as cheap and easy pre-packages foods. Why not go fresh if you can? Things such as "real" parmesan, fresh veggies, fresh spices (or freshly ground, such as pepper and coriander) all make a huge difference. Anyhoo. So it is fall, and one starts thinking about squash more and more. I've actually really wanted to get into soups more, so here's my chance. It turned out really good, if a bit spicy for SO's taste. Just right for me.

Spicy Squash Soup

So one thing that I think really saved a lot of time and made this a much quicker dish was the use of an immersion blender. The kind with a metal shaft, not plastic. Makes quick work of the blending, without getting out the food processor, and its 50 plastic parts that all have to be taken apart and washed. Not to mention blending in batches, re-heating the soup, etc.

Next Time: maybe a bit less spice for SO's benefit; even more cilantro; better quality or home-made broth

Me: 9/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: n/a - are you kidding? Soup? Maybe in a couple years.

Fast, Low-Cal Spaghetti Carbonara

Uh-oh, the fridge is empty. Well not empty exactly, but you know, not a lot in there for a creative pull-it-together last minute supper. Two apples. Half an onion. A bit of lettuce. Part of a green pepper. Some cheese, eggs, milk. Not a whole heck more, not counting condiments, pickles, etc. Oh wait, some left-over cooked bacon (no really! how did that happen anyway). I think there's some "crappy" pre-grated parmesan. What about a carbonara, suggests SO. Unfortunately there is no cream, half and half or even cream cheese. So I'll try a simple white sauce thickened with flour, with a bit of  butter and milk? Close enough. Hopefully it is edible.

Basic white sauce, looking good.

So the basic sauce went well enough. Usually I either burn something at this point or have lots of lumps that just won't go away. Being thus paranoid, I used a really low heat, and added the flour very slowly to the melted butter. I should credit our awesome gravy/sauce making flat whisk at this point. Something like this. I didn't cook it long enough before slowly adding the milk, so next time I'll watch for that. Next comes the parmesan and bacon.

White sauce with parmesan and bacon. Looking better!

At this point, it is easy to add a little more milk if too thick. Added this to the drained pasta, and voila, quick decent dinner. By the way, I say "low-cal" as a relative term here. Milk and a couple Tb of butter compared to a cup of heavy cream and gosh knows what else. 

The finished dish - Fast, low-cal Spaghetti Carbonara

Next Time: maybe 1% milk if we had it instead of skim; fresh parmesan would definitely help.

Me: 8/10

SO: 7/10

SSO: n/a (as usual, he had most of this in deconstructed fashion: bacon on the side, etc.)