Roasted Squash Soup

[Cubfan]

Oh man, I just had the best soup of my life. Totally healthy and easy too! I have to share it. It's from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2007 issue, page 268.

INGREDIENTS
2-3 lb butternut squash
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups diced onions (about 2 medium onions)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. honey
1/3 cup whipping cream (about a 1/4 cup will go into the soup - the rest for drizzle (heck milk would work too)
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (go fresh!)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Split squash from top to bottom, scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy stuff. Lightly sprinkle inside of squash with salt. Place flesh side down in a large baking dish (or a cookie sheet with sides). Pour some water in the bottom of the pan.

2. Bake squash 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on size, until skin is brown and easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven, let cool to handle. Scoop out flesh and discard skin.

3. In large sauce pan or Dutch Oven, heat butter until bubbly, add onions, thyme, and bay leaf and saute until onions are clear (do not let them brown). About 10 minutes.

4. Add squash to that, season with a little more salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes stirring often. Try to mash it up good.

5. Add broth, bring to simmer, stirring, 20 minutes. Season to taste. Remove bay leaf. Add honey. Allow to cool a little. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor (it might not all fit at once). (I learned to have some large bowls handy for temporary holding).

6. Return soup to pot, bring to simmer. Stir in 1/4 cup of the cream and 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg. Heat thru. Taste for seasoning. Drizzle a little more cream over each bowl of soup for presentation, and sprinkle with a pinch of nutmeg.

It looks like a lot but it's not. Bake the squash, saute the onions, add broth, blend it up. Aside from the baking the squash, the whole thing took about 20 minutes. Well worth it! I am definitely making this on Thanksgiving.

[CTDon]

That looks awesome, Cubby.

You know whats funny? I'll read through recipes and think about how good it looks and want to try it, then see that it involves puree-ing and I'll automatically disregard the whole damn thing.

My lazy ass HATES cleaning the blender. I can't get past the thought of using the blender for 3 minutes and then going through the whole rigamorole of cleaning it. I know, I know, I could always let the dishwasher do it...but it's the principle of the matter.

It's retarded, I know.

[Cubfan]

Agreed, cleaning the blender sucks. But this just rinsed right out. Just dont let the stuff dry up on you and it should rinse right out.

The blending was the easiest part!

BTW - I bet a hand mixer would work too. Might not be as smooth but chunky soup is good too!

[PackerDad]

Good stuff!

The kiddo liked it, I liked it, now if we could get the wife to eat it...

Since it is squash time, the next thing on the list is a squash pie. There are 2 of them cooling on top of the oven right now. We are going to test them out on my wife's 2nd grade class tomorrow and see if they can tell the difference between squash and the pumpkin pie they asked for...if they last 'til morning that is.

[Cubfan]

Never had squash pie. I wonder if it's anything like sweet potato pie. Ever have 'bean pie'? It's good stuff. Let me know how the squash pies turn out.

Glad you liked the soup. I'm going to make it again soon, probably next week.

[CTDon]

Ok, I'll suck it up and stop being a pansie.

I'll make it next week (wife is leaving this weekend for a 'girls' weekend away).

[Cubfan]

Don, it's really easy. Just follow the recipe and it'll turn out oh so good. Dont' forget to drizzle some heavy cream and nutmeg over before serving. That's the icing on the cake.

[CTDon]

I know I was going to make it before now, but I never got around to it.

Hitting the grocery store after the playground this afternoon and gonna give it a go tonight!

[Hockeyfan]

Okay. A squash soup? If it's that good I'll have to try it. I usually just bake the squash with butter and maple syrup. Mmm. Where do you get fresh nutmeg?

[Cubfan]

Don - that'a boy. Just make sure you roast that squash nice and long, the more tender and sweetness brought out the better. Give yourself enough time though, it's gotta bake for a while and then cool down enough to scoop out by hand (that's the only hard part about it, it's messy) Hit me up if you have any questions.

Hockey, stop doubting me and try it. You can get fresh nutmeg in a well stocked grocery or gourmet store. You could use pre-ground, I just like going the extra mile and using fresh stuff.