Though this soup has a squash base, you would never know it. Tofu would have been a nice addition. You could use any pasta, but the seashells work great here as they scoop up the broth.
Prep
1 head of broccoli (4-5 C), chopped
Make chunky bite-sized florets and stems cleaned of the tough exterior. I had the luxury of using broccoli that was left over from another dish. Do yourself a favor and prepare your broccoli before your go to bed and use it within 2-3 days.
1 onion, diced
1.5-2 C squash puree
I used a pumpkin puree. Any squash would work. Make ahead and freeze until needed.
Stage
2 tbs olive oil
4 C (32 oz/1 box) soup stock
CONTAINER #1
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
Black pepper, a few grinds of fresh pepper or a pinch of ground pepper
3 tbs cornstarch
Make into a runny paste by mixing with hot water or stock right before adding to the soup.
4.5 oz Conchiglie (seashell) pasta, about a cereal bowl full of dry pasta
For some history about this pasta’s brush with Mussolini as recently as 2021, see this article ‘Fascist’ pasta condemned for referring to Abyssinia in The Times.
Cook
- Warm the oil in a soup/stock pot.
- Saute the onions until they are clear and smell good.
- Add the squash puree. In my case, I added frozen pumpkin puree and cooked it covered until it thawed, making sure not to burn the onions.
- Add a big splash of soup stock to the pot. Let the liquid cook down a bit. Add more stock. Let it cook down. Keep doing this as you slowly build up the liquid until adding the last quarter of the stock all at once.
- Add Container #1 [garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper]
- Add 4 C water and bring to boil.
- Stir in cornstarch paste, make this right before adding using hot stock or water.
- Season to taste.
- Add uncooked pasta. If using the seashells as called for in the recipe (they worked great!), I suggest adding them one at a time, stirring as you go to prevent clumping. Cook in broth according to directions minus 1-2 minutes.
- Add the broccoli. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Check that broccoli and pasta are done and cook longer if needed.
- Serve hot with soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime or Tabasco sauce. We ate this without any condiments, but I thought something acidic would have been a nice touch.
