Butternut Squash & Pear Soup

Danny Whitehawk was buried on March 18th, at the Cherokee Nation cemetery outside of Tahlequah, in the red clay earth of eastern Oklahoma, in the jurisdiction of the Nation he was a citizen of and the land his ancestors were carried to against their will and rebuilt themselves from. The ceremony was partly Cherokee traditional — a stomp dance performed by a small group of men who Danny had danced with for thirty years, including Caleb, who danced in the ring for his father — and partly Christian, because Danny was a man of contradictions who had made peace with his contradictions, and the priest from the Tulsa parish and the Cherokee ceremony leader stood side by side and did not find this awkward because Danny had not found it awkward.

I was the one who cooked for the gathering after the burial. I could not sit still in a church and then sit still at a reception. I needed my hands in something. I made venison soup and Three Sisters soup and bean bread and brought it all in coolers and set it up at Terry's house for the hundred people who came through. Caleb helped. Lily helped. Hannah managed everything I was not managing. Kai and Luna stayed close to Terry all day, which was what she needed and which they understood without being asked.

People ate. That is what people do after a burial: they eat, and in the eating they do the thing that Danny would have wanted, which is to be fed and to be together and to continue. I made enough for everyone. I made more than enough. That was deliberate. Danny never ran out of food when he was feeding people, and I was feeding people in his name, and I was not going to run out.

That night, after everyone left, I sat at Danny's kitchen table with a bowl of the venison soup and I ate it in his kitchen, in his chair. Just me and the kitchen and the sound of the oxygen machine that Terry had not turned off yet. Danny died in this room because everything is here. I ate his soup in this room because everything is still here. That is not nothing. It is not enough. But it is not nothing.

I didn’t serve this one that day — that day I made the venison and the Three Sisters and the bean bread, the foods that belong to that land and those people. But when I got home and sat with what was left in me, this is the soup I made for myself, because squash is one of the sisters and the sweetness of the pear is the kind of thing Danny would have appreciated, the unexpected gentleness of it. It is a soup for the day after, or the week after, when the hundred people have gone home and you are feeding just yourself and trying to keep going. Make more than you need. He would have wanted that.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash (about 3 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 ripe Bartlett or Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil or unsalted butter
4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Pepitas or toasted squash seeds and a drizzle of cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Soften the aromatics. Heat olive oil or butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Add squash and pears. Stir in the cubed butternut squash and chopped pears. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring to coat everything in the oil and aromatics.
Season and add broth. Sprinkle in the ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Pour in the broth. The liquid should just cover the squash — add a splash of water if needed. Stir to combine.
Simmer until tender. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 22 to 25 minutes, until the squash is completely tender and collapses easily when pressed with a spoon.
Blend until smooth. Remove the pot from heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup directly in the pot until completely smooth. Alternatively, carefully transfer in batches to a countertop blender, filling it no more than halfway, and blend until silky. Return blended soup to the pot.
Finish and adjust. Stir in the heavy cream or coconut milk and the apple cider vinegar. Return to low heat and warm through, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or a touch more vinegar as needed. The pear should bring a quiet sweetness; the vinegar keeps it from going flat.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with pepitas and a thin drizzle of cream if desired. This soup holds well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Make more than you think you need.

Nutrition (per serving)

Butternut Squash & Pear Soup — What You Make When You Can’t Stop Moving