44: Roasted Butternet Squash Soup

This is the 44^th recipe I have shared with you! It’s hard to believe I have made that many different things in just a few short months. Check out the blog archive on the right side, just below the top recipes, for a month-by-month archive of the recipes.

I originally wanted to make something President Obama would eat as my 44^th recipe. He’s the 44^th president, get it? Yes, I’m a dork like that. While I think he would eat this soup, I was going to make something more along the lines of his guilty pleasure food such as a burger and fries. C’est la vie.

My farm club, Arganica, sent me butternut squash as part of this week’s delivery. I decided to do something fairly quick and easy that I could enjoy more than once with it. Here we have a soup that I didn’t do too much to in order to preserve the delightful flavor of the squash. There are many ways to make this soup that would have required much more time, but I think this came out rather nicely. Roasting the squash adds depth to the flavor. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients and Directions:

1 two or three pound butternut squash, halved

1 large onion, diced

3 cups of chicken stock

2 tbs of chopped sage

1/4 stick of butter

2 tbs of olive oil

Nutmeg and/or cinnamon to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast halved squash flesh side up for one hour. Scoop out seeds and discard when roasting is complete. Spoon out the pulp of the squash into a bowl, set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil and butter on medium heat. Add onions and sage after butter has melted, reduce heat to low. Stir often until onions become translucent, a good 10 minutes. Now add the stock and squash pulp, bring to a boil, and cook for a few minutes to meld the flavors. I used a hand blender to puree my soup in the same pot. Reduce heat to low and puree to your liking. Now adjust seasoning with nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper to balance the flavor out. It will probably be a little starchy tasting before you add any seasoning. Garnish with minced sage or a dollop of mascarpone cheese.  Serve warm.

Note: The soup will thicken while refrigerated, so you may need to add a little water when/if reheating the soup.