Chef Steve Waxman’s Roasted Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

2 medium sized butternut squash – halved and seeded

1 small white pumpkin – halved and seeded

2 large onions – quartered

Salt & Pepper, to taste

2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 quarts vegetable or chicken stock, divided

2 Tablespoons Fresh ginger, grated

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 quart heavy cream (optional)

Procedure

Toss squash, pumpkin and onions with salt, pepper and 1 cup olive oil. Put on sheet pan, pour remaining oil on top and roast in oven at 350 degrees until soft and caramelized, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove shells. Place in stainless steel stock pot with 2 quarts of stock and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Add 2 tablespoons of grated ginger. Taste to determine if you want to add more salt and pepper. Puree soup in a blender (or use wand or food mill) until it is thick and homogenized. Taste to determine if you need more salt, pepper or ginger. Add more, if you like. If you want this to be a cream sauce, add the cream and pour back into the pot to continue cooking. Adjust thickness by adding additional 2 quarts of stock, to taste. You can serve immediately or reheat. If you re-heat I recommend adding water to start, as this soup will continue to thicken as it sits.

Chef Steven Waxman’s Garden Vegetable with White Bean Soup

Ingredients

4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 zucchini, yellow and green, diced

2 large onions, diced
1 rutabaga peeled & diced

1/2 cabbage, chopped

2 sweet potato
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups white beans (If using dry beans, soak overnight. If using canned beans, rinse and drain before using.)

4 Tbsp tomato paste or tomato, diced
8 quarts vegetable broth or chicken
salt & pepper, to taste

2 Tbsp each, fresh thyme and basil

2 Tbsp Scallions, chopped, for garnish

Procedure

This is a very simple recipe that can be adjusted based on the local ingredients at the time. Peel and dice carrots, zucchini, onions, rutabaga, cabbage and sweet potatoes.  Sauté vegetables in ½ cup olive oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic, beans and tomato paste and the remaining olive oil and cook for another 15 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for about one hour. Taste for salt and pepper.  Add basil and thyme. Garnish with chopped scallions and basil.

Chef Steven Waxman’s Vegetable Lasagna

Servings: 8 – 12 servings

Vegetable Lasagna can be used as a main course or side dish and it even makes great leftovers.  It is a very versatile recipe. You can use whatever vegetables are in season. I like to use zucchini and squash, choosing ones that are seedless or nearly seedless.  You can make it with or without animal products. For animal-product free version, eliminate the custard and cheese.  I recommend using an oven-proof Pyrex dish or ceramic pan that has at least 1 inch sides. Depending upon how many people you’re feeding, you can change the size of the pan.

Ingredients

6 Eggs

1 pint Heavy Cream

5 Sweet onions, sliced medium

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper, to taste

Nutmeg, pinch

2 Tbsp. Basil or Parsley

4 Zucchini, sliced long-ways ¼” thick

4 Gold bar Yellow Squash, sliced long-ways ¼” thick

fresh basil or parsley, chopped

8 Tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick

¼ cup Parmesan, grated, divided

1 cup flour, divided

2 cups Flour, may not use it all

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip eggs and cream to make custard. Set aside. Sauté the onions in olive oil with salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg, set aside and let cool. Toss zucchini and squash in large bowl with salt, pepper, a touch of nutmeg, basil and olive oil. Oil bottom of pan. Create a layer of zucchini and squash, covering bottom of pan completely.  Next, make a layer of tomatoes. Top with layer of onions, then grated parmesan.  Sift a thin layer of flour on top. Cover first layer with custard. Then, repeat all layers so you end up with approximately 3 layers of each. Cover with syran wrap and foil, to make air tight. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. If making animal-product free version, bake uncovered. Let it cool thoroughly, cut into squares then re-heat to serve. At the restaurant we cool it overnight and slice before we re-heat it to serve.