Squash soup revisited

It occurred to me that some readers of my squash soup recipe might not be sure how to peel an uncooked squash. A lot of squash recipes have you cook the squash unpeeled first, then scoop the soft flesh from the shell.

But peeling raw squash isn't hard. This is how I would suggest you go about doing it.

1. You need to use a big, heavy chef's knife. The weight of the knife will help you do the job. Don't even think of using a paring knife or a flimsy knife!
2. Cut the whole squash in half, then quarters.
3. Scrape the seeds and pulp out of each quarter with a spoon or paring knife.
4. Place a quarter section cut side down on your cutting board. Slice off sections of the peel by cutting downward toward the cutting board. Flip to do the other side. Repeat with each quarter. Cut into smaller sections if necessary.
5. You can use a paring knife to trim off remaining traces of green, or just leave them as I do.
6. Cut each quarter into slices and then chop the slices into smaller pieces, again using the heavy chef's knife.

Here's a picture of a peeled Kabocha squash in the process of being sliced and chopped (with a whole Kabocha in the background). As you can see, a whole squash probably yields more than the four cups of cut pieces suggested in the recipe. This one had about eight cups worth and I used it all, along with about six cups of broth.


A postscript: Before I left for Maine I tried freezing the squash soup I had left over from my last cooking. It worked great! I ate the thawed and reheated soup after I came home, and it was fine. Delicious as always! The potential of frozen squash soup intrigues me....