Friday, November 4, 2011

butternut squash soup



It's officially fall in Austin. And also, I had 3/4 of a butternut squash left from making the tart the other day. Naturally, that equation equals soup.

The Hit List:
I just realized I have yet to include serving size in my blog posts...this made about 4 servings but to be honest, I had no idea what the yield was until I finished making it.

1 medium butternut squash (or 3/4 of one if you are me), peeled, cored, and diced.
about 2 cups of vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water. I used vegetable stock but in retrospect I think water would be the best choice here so that the squash can really shine through.
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T olive oil or butter (or both, i always use both)
1.5 T chopped  fresh sage
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme, chopped
crushed red pepper


optional for garnish: pepitas (roasted, salted pumpkin seeds), maple syrup, chopped fresh chives
optional: pumpernickel bread for dipping/side munching
equipment: blender

Execution:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
peel, core, and dice squash. put on a sheet pan with 1 T olive oil

mince up about 1 T of sage and sprinkle it on the squash along with salt and pepper.
roast it in the oven for 40-50 minutes, flipping all the squash once. you want it to be really golden brown on both sides.


while the squash is roasting, dice up the onion, mince the garlic and chop up the rest of the herbs.


When the squash is nearly finished
melt 1 T of butter and half a T of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. add the onion and garlic and sweat for about 7 minutes. add a pinch of the chopped herbs, salt, and red pepper and add the stock or water, squash and let simmer for 10 minutes.

in 2-4 batches, ladle the contents of the pot into a blender and liquify until all of the soup has been pureed and is a creamy consistency and orange color.
return to the pot, adjust the seasonings, adding salt, pepper and herbs if necessary.

ladle into bowls and garnish with pepitas, chopped chives, and a swirl of maple syrup around the center garnish. yum yum yum enjoy with a nice thick slice of pumpernickel bread!


i posted this last night and am now going in to make this edit: I just had a bowl of leftover soup and it is actually 10 times better the next day. All the flavors have really gotten stronger and I am SO angry at myself for not making more to be eaten today!! So, be sure to leave enough left over so you can enjoy it for lunch the next day!

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