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Pumpkin and Potato Solar Soup
Pumpkin, or any kind of squash, can be solar roasted ahead of time for use in soups, risottos, or even baked goods. Butternut, kabocha, or sugar pumpkin will all work in this recipe. To roast the squash simply cut it into pieces, remove and discard the seeds, put it in a lightly oiled baking pan, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and cook, uncovered in the Sun Oven until soft. Once cooked remove the skin and refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
Ingredients
2 cups solar roasted squash or pumpkin
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, finely sliced
1 cup milk
Squash in the Sun
This simple, tasty side dish could also be made with melted butter in place of the olive oil. I’ve even seen a similar recipe that used heavy cream. It goes well with turkey or pork. You can cut the squash up the night before and refrigerate it in a covered container if you want to get an early start and free up the Sun Oven for a main course to go with it.
Sun Roasted Parmesan Squash
Ingredients
1/2 of a butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
More Solar Risotto
This yummy risotto makes a great quick lunch if you have any leftover cooked butternut on hand. If you don’t, start by solar roasting some. If you cook up a whole squash you’ll have more than you need for this recipe and you can freeze the leftovers for future use.
Solar Butternut Squash Risotto
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
Savory Solar Pumpkin Pudding
This is a bit of a project. The onions need to cook for quite a long time, but, as with most solar cooking, you’ll be able to go about you business while they simmer away. If pie pumpkins aren’t available, use butternut squash, it works just as well. It can also be used as a filling for a savory pie. The pumpkin onion mixture is also good on it’s own.
Savory Solar Pumpkin Pudding
(adapted from “Savory Roasted Pumpkin Pie” New York Times Nov. 4 2008)
Ingredients
2 small pie pumpkins or 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds discarded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Solar Side with a Bonus Snack!
I have a love hate relationship with butternut squash. It’s one of my favorite vegetables but I hate peeling it and the expensive precut stuff doesn’t taste as good. So you can imagine how pleased I was to stumble upon this super simple preparation method over at epicurious.com. The squash is cut in half lengthwise and seeded. Leave the skin on (yay!), cut into squares, score the flesh. Rub all over with olive oil.
Set the pieces, skin side down, in a lidded roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and roast in the Global Sun Oven until tender. Serve hot or at room temperature, sprinkled with balsamic vinegar.
Any left over squash can be easily scraped off the skin and used in risottos or soups.
And to top things off I toasted the seeds, seasoned with kosher salt, while the squash was cooking.
