Spicy Chickpea and Buttenut Squash Soup

I am sure you would agree that there is nothing quite like enjoying a warm bowl of soup on a cold snowy day.  Well, my friends, those days have arrived for us here in Northern Ontario.  The first accumulated snow fall of the winter.  Our ground and trees are completely covered in a dusting of at least 8 inches of snow after a blizzard that lasted all day long.

The only ones really happy about all this “white stuff” are our dogs, who love snow.   Even our new little puppy is playfully curious about this cold white fluffy stuff that comes all the way up to his chubby belly.

So, the snow is here and operation soup is well under way!  Once we get started, The Turnbulls, are a pretty determined bunch.  We’ve figured out how to successfully use our pressure canner and now all of our jars are properly sealing.  The next couple of days are going to be spent indoors in front of a warm stove and a couple of huge pots making and canning delicious soups.   We are using mostly local and organically grown vegetables with the odd exception made here and there.

Today, we are snowed in…a perfect day for making several batches of soup for the even colder days ahead.  This next recipe hails from New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein and we highly recommend picking up a copy.  Every recipe in this book is a sure hit!

RECIPE FOR SPICY CHICKPEA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and diced into cubes
• 2 cups (16 ounces) canned diced tomatoes
• 2 cups (16 ounces) canned chickpeas. rinsed and drained
• 12 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk ~ note: add the coconut milk when serving…do NOT add to the soup prior to pressure canning
• 1 teaspoon minced Scotch bonnet chile pepper
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat a large stainless steel stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil, onion, celery, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.  Add the butternut squash and sauté an additional 5 minutes.Next to the pot, add the tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, tomato juice, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, coriander, coconut, and brown sugar.Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the squash is tender, 35 to 45 minutes.As you can see our 10 quart pot was not big enough for this DOUBLE batch.  Luckily, we have the greatest neighbours…one call to our friend up the road, a walk through the snow, and within minutes we were back in business with a bigger pot!  This is what happens when you are busy making two different double batches of soup at one time. Into the bigger pot you go!
2. Stir in the chile pepper, cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste.  We doubled this recipe but only added 1/2 teaspoon of Habanero pepper…because I can’t take the heat.  Best to add these last few ingredients and adjust to your taste.
3. Remove from the heat and ladle into hot sterilized jars.  To sterilize the jars place in the oven at 250F for 20-30 minutes. 
4. Process in a pressure canner following directions.  We pressure canned this soup at 10lbs of pressure for 75 minutes.  Please follow the instructions and guidelines outlined in your pressure canning manual.   This soup can also be served fresh or jarred and refrigerated to be eaten over the next couple of days.  We did all of the above.
5. Reheat to serve, adding the coconut milk after it has been heated through and removed from the stove.  Note: most of the time, this step is skipped and we just eat the hot soup as is.  It’s delicious and will be included in next years soup making roster.

Put up Total Spicy Chickpea and Butternut Squash Soup:

• 7 x 1L regular mouth mason jars

Put up Total Tuscan Minestrone:

• 7 x 1L regular mouth mason jars