Polenta, Tomato and Basil Bread with Butternut Squash Soup

I have been in a baking rut for quite some time. Really ever since my muffin disaster last month, nothing I have baked has turned out. But I haven't given up. The closest to a success I've had is this Polenta, Tomato and Basil Bread. It was delicious! It didn't really rise very much, but it's hard to make dough rise that is mainly spelt flour, so I didn't have high hopes in the first place. Plus, I have very little experience making bread by hand, so I certainly could use more practice. Despite all of that, it wasn't overly heavy or dry. It was plenty flavorful and moist. The recipe is surprising because it contains no oil. Maybe the tomato flavor was too dominant though. Anyway, I think I'll try the recipe again sometime, as it was tasty and went nicely with soup. By the way, I substituted date sugar for the brown sugar.

To make the soup, all I did was make a batch of Sauteed Squash with Onions and then blended it in the blender with some vegetable broth. But, you can make it easier by skipping the step of sauteing, and putting the sliced raw onions and raw whole garlic cloves in the baking pan along with the raw chopped squash, toss everything with olive oil and bake for about a half hour, or until everything is soft. Then blend it in the blender. Place it in a saucepan with about a cup of vegetable broth, or more if needed, to get a soupy consistency. Simmer until hot. Season with salt and pepper.

Hmmm, I guess the theme of this week must be polenta. Oops! I guess I better move on to another grain!