Butternut Squash Soup
For a starter on Thanksgiving, we had one of our favorite seasonal salads (bacon wrapped roasted pear on mixed greens with apple ginger vinaigrette) and this *points down* soup. Everyone really loved it and it was incredibly simple to make. By the way, I'm including links at the end to other butternut squash recipes we've enjoyed in the past.
Honestly, the hardest thing about making this soup is halving the squash itself. It takes a large knife and some patience. Click here for detailed instructions on doing that.
You can prepare butternut squash other ways, but our favorite method is to take the two cut halves, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Then we place them flesh side down--not right side up--on a Silpat-lined, lipped baking sheet and pop the split squash in the oven at 375 for 40-50 minutes, give or take depending on how big it is. Periodically, pierce it with a fork. If it still firm and the fork meets resistance, you'll want to give it some extra cook time.
After taking it from the oven, I let it cool briefly, before turning it over and scoring the squash. Then I'll scoop the cooked cubes into a bowl and add the other ingredients before processing. We used one extra large butternut squash and that provided us with 6 cups. Because of Conner's asthma/allergies, cooking onions inside is a trigger for an attack. As a result, I have to dice and caramelize the onions in big batches outside (thanks Mom for your help!) and do them on our side burner of the grill. After that I freeze them and use as need be. For that reason, I don't have an exact quantity on the onion. You can garnish it with anything you'd like...diced chives, drizzle of cream, crumbled bacon or...if you're like us and not terribly fancy...nothing at all.
4 pinches (roughly 3 TBSP each) of caramelized sweet onion
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (you can sub vegetable broth, of course)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
A pinch of ground cayenne pepper
1/2 package cream cheese, softened (4 ounces needed)
In a large saucepan, combine onion, squash, broth, pepper and cayenne. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to almost disintegrate. Add in the softened cream cheese and mix it through as best you can. Let this cool briefly and then pour the squash into a blender or food processor and process in batches until smooth. Return the soup to a saucepan, and heat it through if need be. Do not allow this mixture to boil.
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Related recipes:
* Nuevo Chipotle Beef in Butternut Squash Boats
* Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
* Butternut Bisque (Tex-Mex)
Enjoy!
Honestly, the hardest thing about making this soup is halving the squash itself. It takes a large knife and some patience. Click here for detailed instructions on doing that.
You can prepare butternut squash other ways, but our favorite method is to take the two cut halves, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Then we place them flesh side down--not right side up--on a Silpat-lined, lipped baking sheet and pop the split squash in the oven at 375 for 40-50 minutes, give or take depending on how big it is. Periodically, pierce it with a fork. If it still firm and the fork meets resistance, you'll want to give it some extra cook time.
After taking it from the oven, I let it cool briefly, before turning it over and scoring the squash. Then I'll scoop the cooked cubes into a bowl and add the other ingredients before processing. We used one extra large butternut squash and that provided us with 6 cups. Because of Conner's asthma/allergies, cooking onions inside is a trigger for an attack. As a result, I have to dice and caramelize the onions in big batches outside (thanks Mom for your help!) and do them on our side burner of the grill. After that I freeze them and use as need be. For that reason, I don't have an exact quantity on the onion. You can garnish it with anything you'd like...diced chives, drizzle of cream, crumbled bacon or...if you're like us and not terribly fancy...nothing at all.
4 pinches (roughly 3 TBSP each) of caramelized sweet onion
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (you can sub vegetable broth, of course)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
A pinch of ground cayenne pepper
1/2 package cream cheese, softened (4 ounces needed)
In a large saucepan, combine onion, squash, broth, pepper and cayenne. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to almost disintegrate. Add in the softened cream cheese and mix it through as best you can. Let this cool briefly and then pour the squash into a blender or food processor and process in batches until smooth. Return the soup to a saucepan, and heat it through if need be. Do not allow this mixture to boil.
________________________
Related recipes:
* Nuevo Chipotle Beef in Butternut Squash Boats
* Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
* Butternut Bisque (Tex-Mex)
Enjoy!