Mexican Squash Soup (Sopa de Calabasa)

A Cook With Us Recipe
Mike Gonzales, my partner at the Hispanic Food Network, demonstrates how to prepare Sopa de Calabasa in the cookwithus.com kitchen. Check out the video below.

Squash Soup / Sopa de Calabasa

The nutty taste of pumpkin seeds combined with ancho chiles gives this soup an authentic flavor of old world Mexico.

  • 2 acorn squash (or squash of preference)
  • 4 dried ancho chiles roasted and rehydrated,
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • ½ cup dried (hulled) pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup whipping cream or Mexican crema*
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 T. butter or margarine
  • 1/2 t. cumin
  • 1/2 stick cinnamon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  •  fresh mint for garnish

Cut squash in halves, remove seeds and membrane.  Place in oven proof pan (cut side down), add 1 cup water, bake at 350 degrees for approximately ½ hour or until soft, allow to cool.  Stem and seed chiles, lightly roast in dry skillet or comal.  Note: Take care not to over roast chiles for they may taste bitter.  Place chiles in warm water for 10-15 minutes to re-hydrate.

Heat butter in skillet, add onion and garlic, sauté until soft and lightly brown.  Add ancho chiles (coarse chopped) and remove from heat.

Toast pumpkin seeds in small skillet until lightly browned or begin “popping”, allow to cool, fine grind in spice mill.

In blender add two cups milk and half of:  squash, onion, garlic, and chile.   Add ground pumpkin seeds, puree and add to soup kettle. Repeat process with 2 cups milk and remaining: squash, onion/garlic/chile. Cook over low heat, add cream, lime juice, cumin, cinnamon stick, salt and pepper (to taste).  Gently stir and allow to heat for 10-15 minutes.  Remove cinnamon, thin soup to desired consistency with extra milk or water. Serve hot with fresh mint leaves as garnish.                                                  

 Serves six

  • Mexican crema may be purchased in Mexican markets. It resembles “crème fraiche and can be substituted by mixing equal parts sour cream and heavy whipping cream. 

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