Creamy Butternut-white potato purée: really!

Puréed Butternut blends well into cheddar and spicy red sauces.

When I first tried this, my students never believed they ‘d want to eat the result…it was awesome!

Welcome back! In this final portion of Swaptastics, I am focusing on puréed root vegetables that can act as a substitute for sauce. My favorites are potatoes and butternut squash, which can mimic the appearance of some standard sauces.

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Creamy Root Vegetable Soup/Sauce

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: ~ 25 minutes
Inactive time: 15 minutes

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INGREDIENTS:
Butternut Squash
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2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 medium sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
2 cups vegetable stock
Pinch pepper of choice
2 teaspoons Salt, plus more to taste

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INGREDIENTS:
White Potato
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2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 small sweet onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
Pinch pepper of choice
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

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STEPS: Both
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1. In a medium-sized pan, add in the first 1/4 cup water, olive oil and onion and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, softening the onion. Add in the garlic cloves and stir frequently for 2 minutes.

2. Add in the diced root vegetable you’re using, salt, pepper, and the stock or stock-water combination (depending on the vegetable). Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes to soften the vegetable.

3. Taste and adjust seasonings, then cool the mixture for 15 minutes to make it safe to purée.

4. If using a blender, you’ll need to purée in batches, filling the blender no more than 3/4 of the way and ensuring there is 1/4 cup water or stock at the base to keep the motor running properly. Hold the lid down tightly as you purée the mixture.

Once the blending is complete, you have a mixture that can be used just like any creamy sauce.

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Fun Facts and Figures

To make the sauce costs between $3-5, depending on whether you use potato or squash. The price for purchasing all ingredients for the first time is $10-12, depending on whether you use potato or squash and, after making the sauce, there’s still most of the other ingredients left to use in other recipes. The breakdown:

Olive oil: $4 for the bottle
Garlic: $0.50 for a whole bulb
Salt: $1
White pepper: $1
Onion powder: $1
White potato: $2-4 depending on type of potato
Butternut squash: $3

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NUTRITION
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White potato, peeled, 1 cup

258 calories
60 grams carbs (5.4 grams fiber)
0.3 grams fat
0.1 grams Saturated
0 grams Monounsaturated
0.1 grams Polyunsaturated
Protein 5.1 grams
Potassium 984 mg
Omega 3 fatty acids 30 mg
Omega 6 fatty acids 96 mg
Calcium 24 mg
Magnesium 60 mg
Vitamin C 22.2 mg

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Butternut squash, 1 cup

82 calories
21.5 grams carbs ( 0 fiber)
0.2 grams fat
0 grams Saturated
0 grams Monounsaturated
0.1 grams Polyunsaturated
Protein 2 grams
Potassium 582 mg
Omega 3 fatty acids 49.2 mg
Omega 6 fatty acids 28.7 mg
Calcium 84 mg
Magnesium 59.4 mg
Vitamin A 22,869 IU
Vitamin C 31 mg

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Nutrition facts gathered from purchased product labels and supplemented with information supplied by http://nutritiondata.self.com.