Cross continental squash soup that will make us taste the freshness of summer, bite after bite. Dill flavored creamy summer squash soup to delight!

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Squashes are one of the great group of fruits that has so low carbohydrate content that it is considered a vegetable. Summer squashes go even further than being just a sugar free fruit. It is an immature fruit.

Summer squashes are basically winter squashes that are harvested when their skin still tender and edible thus letting us free of the cumbersome task of peeling. Not as getting rid of the unripe greenish skin would be too hard of a task, as it can be done as easily as peeling a carrot but we don’t even have to do that.

Native to Central America but since the expansion of American influence by the Spanish conquerors, it is grown all around the world in some form or another. It debuted into pop culture when the pilgrim settlers featured pumpkin at the first Thanksgiving.

Since then, it’s world conquering vines grow even stronger on the soil of Halloween craving audience worldwide. It is a bit of a gastronomy dead end though as in most countries, pumpkins aren’t grown for culinary uses but only for jack-o-lanterns and then thrown away.

It’s always a bit like that when people do not live in traditions but only observe them and try to mimic them for some reason or another.

It’s a bit like the cargo cult of some indigenous people of the Melanesian Islands. They developed religious beliefs and performed rituals similar to the one that was performed by the soldiers of the more advanced nations military who were occupying their islands at the time.

Wearing headphones made of coconut and talking to their gods in a hope of flavorful weather or catch, isn’t as different as wearing real headphones while asking for more provisions and receiving the parachutes full of goods.

Maybe it’s a bit of stretch, stating that all who celebrates Halloween outside the US, UK & Commonwealth wears a coconut headphone but pumpkins are primarily grown to be eaten not carved into lanterns.

Making lanterns and playing with fire is fun, so no wonder the world has caught on this craziness but left behind the cumbersome task of peeling winter squash and making something out of them.

Squash which is a pumpkin, a part of quite versatile vegetables or fruits as was mentioned before. It was used as way to expulse worms by the native Americans then by the American doctors and still used today as a home remedy.

Nowadays we use squashes for their culinary qualities rather than the prowess they muster in medicine. We can make biscuits, bread, cheesecake, desserts, donuts, granola, ice cream, lasagna dishes, pancakes, pudding, pumpkin butter, salads and of course soups out of them.

This soup though will use summer squash as a main ingredient and reaches over the Atlantic for an aromatic herb to create an exciting cross-cultural dish.

It’s not a pureed soup but thanks to the sour cream it has creamy consistency that can be further thickened if we mix a spoonful or two flour or corn starch with the sour cream or simply use less liquid when cooking.

It doesn’t matter if we use extra carbs or not the slight changes in texture won’t affect the fresh summerish character of the soup that is very specific for dill flavored dishes.

Ingredients

4 tablespoon / 50g Butter
2 medium Onion (160g) (diced)
2 lb / 1kg Summer squash (sliced either way)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Dill
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Paprika (optional)
½ cup / 100ml Water
½ cup / 100ml Water
½ cup / 150ml Sour Cream

How to make Summer squash soup

Melt butter in a pan.
Saute the onion on the butter until it gets a glassy / translucent look. The onion can be caramelized on low heat if desired but that takes a bit longer and more butter.
Halve the squash then slice it up either horizontally or vertically.
Add the sliced up squash and saute for 3 to 5 minutes.
Sprinkle in the salt, dill, vinegar and the optional paprika.
Pour in the water and the milk.
Turn the heat up until it reaches the boiling temperature then lower the heat and simmer the squash to desired texture in about 10 minutes.
Mix in the sour cream, bring it to boil and turn off the heat.
Let it cool off a bit before serving.