Creamy Red Kuri Squash Soup with Cinnamon 3 Comments

There is a small farmer’s market snuggled between San Francisco’s City Hall and
Davies Symphony Hall. Turn of the century buildings make a stunning backdrop for the rustic tents full of freshly picked fruits, vegetables and flowers.

It’s at this farmer’s market that I discovered Kuri. No, it’s not a typo, and no it’s not an Indian curry. Kuri is a vegetable and is part of the squash family. Kuri is burnt orange in color, has less ridges than a regular pumpkin and is nuttier and meatier in flavor than regular squash.

I’ve had my Kuri squash sitting at my kitchen table for about a month, afraid to cook with it, that is until I received Louisa Shafia’s new cookbook Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco -Conscious Life. Louisa focuses on seasonal and organic cooking. By dividing her cookbook in seasons, she makes it very easy to find recipes for each season and showcases lesser known vegetables and fruits—which tend to be more affordable since they are less popular. Here is where I discovered her creamy kuri squash soup recipe.

Louisa’s recipe combines apple, cinnamon and caramelized onion as the key flavor ingredients which creates a soup that is lightly sweet but compliments the delicate and mellow flavor of the Kuri. You won’t be disappointed by this strange squash!

And, if you are looking for a new cookbook for yourself—or for a holiday gift—I highly recommend Lucid Food. There are dozens of other recipes I can’t wait to try!!