The butternut squash soup at the Montaluce Winery restaurant is the epitome of creamy comfort food. We’d love to be able to reproduce it at home when we cannot make a trip to that beautiful area. Will they share the recipe? Thank you.
— Dean Porter, Atlanta
This Thai Butternut Squash Soup is a seasonal recipe for the restaurant. It returned to the menu in early November and will be available until the first week of January.
Chef de cuisine Clint Johnston changes the menu with the seasons and sent us this note along with the recipe. “I am a seasonal eater. I love chilled watermelon in the summer and a warm bowl of chili in the winter, but when I think of autumn, what comes to mind is butternut squash soup. When I started at Montaluce in the fall of 2019, I quickly learned that our butternut squash soup was a fan favorite. I adapted the original recipe, adding a sweet touch of coconut cream and some spice, and topping the soup with crumbled gorgonzola. It truly appeals to all palates.”
You can find soup base, which resembles a paste, in the soup aisle of your local grocery store. Bouillon cubes are not a recommended substitute.
Make Montaluce Winery’s Thai Butternut Squash Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 large (about 2 pounds) butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, diced
12 cloves garlic, minced
1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
3/4 cup coconut cream
4 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons chicken or vegetable soup base
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Sriracha, to taste (optional)
Gorgonzola crumbles, sprouts and red pepper flakes (if desired), for garnish
In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add onion, carrot and celery and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in butternut squash and garlic and cook until squash is tender, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in coconut milk and coconut cream and bring mixture just to a boil. Stir in heavy cream and reduce heat to low.
When mixture is simmering, spoon 1/2 cup of soup into a small bowl and stir in soup base and vinegar. When soup base dissolves, return mixture to the Dutch oven, then taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed. Simmer soup 20 minutes, then stir in Italian seasoning and Sriracha, if using. Remove from heat and let soup sit, covered, 10 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. Serve garnished with gorgonzola crumbles, sprouts and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Makes 10 cups.
Per cup (without garnishes and no additional salt): 570 calories (percent of calories from fat, 82), 6 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams total sugars, 4 grams fiber, 54 grams total fat (36 grams saturated), 108 milligrams cholesterol, 58 milligrams sodium.
From the menu of ... Montaluce Winery & Restaurant, 501 Hightower Church Road, Dahlonega; 706-867-4060, montaluce.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
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