Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup with Star Anise and Lemon

I might be tooting my own horn, but many people have said that this the best soup they ever tasted. Butternut squash creates a creamy soup that is livened up in texture by the addition black wild rice, which splits and adds a nutty flavor to the soup. Star anise complements the sweetness of the squash and the lemon zest complements that sweetness with a kiss of citrus that brightens the soups flavor and complexity. This is a recipe I created over time. My sister Terri Flanagan gave me the idea for using wild rice in with butternut squash and this is the wonderful and fresh result.

The recipe can be done using fresh butternut squash or canned pumpkin. It can be made vegan by subtitling avocado or olive oil for butter and coconut milk for cream.

This serves 6-8 as a meal.

Here’s what you will need:

• I big butternut squash peeled and cubed (about 6 cups) or 2 14.5 ounce cans of pumpkin (which is butternut squash)

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 onions (big) or 3 small finely chopped

• 2 to 4 cloves finely chopped garlic

• 1 serrano pepper finely chopped or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 2 star anise pods

• 6-8 cups low sodium chicken broth/vegetable broth/bone broth

• 1 cup long grained wild rice (the long skinny black rice)

• 2 cups of half and half or 1 can coconut milk (2 cans?)

• Zest of 1 or two lemons

Place an 10 quart stockpot on medium heat and melt butter. Add onions and salt, sauté until onion begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until till fragrant, 1 minute. Add cubed squash and hot pepper. Add stock (almost enough to barely reach to top of the squash) and star anise and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until squash starts to fall apart (about 30-45 minutes). Important note: if you are using better than bullion or bullion cubes, use half the amount of the cube or concentrate recommended to create each cup of stock to avoid an overly salty result. You can always add add a bit more salt at the end.

Remove the star anise pods. If you can, remove the seeds from the star anise pods and return tot he pot. Using an immersion blender, puree the squash but don't over do it. I puree it so you still have some little chunks of onions. If you don’t have an emersion blender, get one. I have one in France, one at home, and travel with one everywhere I go. You can also use a blender, but you really need to let the soup cool before pureeing in batches to avoid it expanding and exploding out of the blender if it is still hot.

Add 3/4 C of wild rice and cook until rice is tender, splits, and opens up so you can see the white flesh of the rice (at least 45 min).

Once the rice has opened and is tender, remove the soup for the heat. Add the half and half (or coconut milk) and stir to combine. Taste for texture and add additional broth if you like a thinner soup.

Add, the lemon zest and taste. Add additional salt and lemon zest to taste. I like a lot of lemon zest.