So I was lucky enough to score some beautiful butternut squash at the last Farmers Market, and I wanted to do something fun with them when my in-laws come for dinner.  My first though was Butternut Squash Ravioli, one of my favorites.  Then my father-in-law threw me a curve ball: no heavy butter or cream sauces this go around.  Well, squash doesn't exactly scream red sauce, so I was stumped.  I figured fine, we'll just do them en brodo, or in broth.  Then I noticed the wonton wrappers left over from my Fingerling Radish Spring Rolls. 

So, how about a wonton soup?  Sounds good, but how to make it mine.  As the wheels started spinning, I remembered that I'd been lucky enough to find dried cayenne pepper pods at one of the vendors in the Marker.  That gave me the a crazy idea: let's play with fusing Asian and Creole flavors.  I dearly love creole cuisine and I have a great recipe I use for Bourbon Truffled Sweet Potatoes that I thought that would be great with butternut squash.  So what if we did a simple Asian broth soup, but gave it a Creole twist.  The result was surprising and delicious.
The broth is simple and spicy, serving to accentuate the complexity of the butternut squash filling of the wonton.  When broken in the broth, the wonton filling had the effect of creaming the soup and creating a wonderfully complex flavor.  The biggest complaint I had was that the bowls were too small.  So good was the soup that it completely over shadowed the rack of lamb I had carefully roasted for our main course. 

Don't let the ingredient list scare you, this dish tastes way more difficult to make than it is. Note that for this dish, I was lucky enough to get dried cayenne pepper pods from one of the vendors, though you can certainly use pre-ground cayenne.

Ingredients we used from Farmers Market vendors in this recipe:

• Butternut Squash: Leffler Gardens
• Leeks: Klassen Farms
• Cayenne Peppers: Leffler Gardens

Creole Butternut Squash Wonton Soup

1 medium butternut squash
2 Tbsp Bourbon
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Truffle Oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
12 wonton wrappers
4 cups Chicken Broth
1 large leek (white & pale green part only chopped into half moons approximately 1/8" thick)
kosher salt
cayenne pepper

1.) Split the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds.  cover the flesh with 1 Tbsp butter, season with salt, and place flesh side down on a baking sheet.  Roast in oven at 400 degrees until fork tender, about 45 minutes or so.

2.) Heat olive oil in a 5 quart sauce part and saute leeks until tender and translucent.  Add garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add chicken broth, thyme and season with salt and Cayenne pepper.  You can adjust the level of spiciness by the amount of cayenne you add until you reach your preferred level of heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 30-45 minutes.

3.) Scoop the squash flesh out of the skins into a large mixing bowl and mash with potato masher.  (Hint:  Use a towels to hold the squash so as to not burn your hand.)

4.)  Add butter, brown sugar, bourbon and truffle oil to squash and whisk until smooth.  Alternatively you can use a hand mixer or stick blender, but be careful not to over-blend the puree or it will liquify.

5.)  Place approximately 1 tbsp of the mixture into the center of the wonton wrapper.  Wet edges slightly and fold the wrapper into a triangle, pressing firmly to seal the edges.

6.)  Drop wontons into 4 quarts of GENTLY boiling salted water.  If the water is at a full boil, the wontons will break apart.  When the wontons float to the surface, they are done.  Remove them and place 3 in each bowl.

7.)  Ladle 1 cup of broth and onions into each bowl.  Garnish with fresh parsley or chopped fennel fronds.

Note: Extra Squash puree can be refrigerated or frozen and served later as a side dish.  Simply bake in a 350 degree oven until warmed through and serve.  Though the squash can be reheated by microwave, baking will add another layer of depth to the flavor as bourbon and truffle oil heat up and infuse the squash with flavor.