We had four beautiful butternut squash hanging out on the counter and our babysitter requested butternut squash soup – how could I say no?
I was able to start this soup early in the day while the house was relatively sane. I chopped up 2 large butternut squash and steamed them over an inch or so of water for about 20 minutes. I let the squash sit patiently in the pan until I was ready to turn it into soup hours later for dinner.
If you prefer to roast your squash, and save yourself some chopping – cut your squash in half, scoop out the seeds and score the skin. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the squash. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes until you the flesh is soft and easily scooped out.
Ingredients:
2 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 carton vegetable broth (about 4 cups)
1 onion, diced
3 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 dash of crushed red pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
A lot of freshly ground pepper
Recommended … 1 to 2 tablespoons garlic herb blend (I got mine from Greene Family Farm)
Optional … A little cream or half and half
Directions:
1. Steam the butternut squash … (Click here for a refresher on preparing butternut squash)
2. Saute the onion and garlic in a large heavy bottomed pan until the onion is translucent – you want to choose a pan that will work for simmering the soup later.
3. Combine the steamed butternut squash (cooled first!), onion, and garlic in a food processor or blender. If you use a blender, you will want to add some of the broth to help the blender do its thing. Or, really, the best way to process this soup is to use an immersion blender if you have one!
4. After the squash and onions have been pureed, put the squash back into the heavy bottomed soup pot and add the remaining broth, a dash or two of crushed red pepper, 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt, and many, many turns of your pepper grinder. I also added a generous tablespoon of a new herb blend I bought at our virtual farmers market from the Greene Family Farm – it was a delicious combination of basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and garlic. It added a lot of flavor to the soup and gave it a nice “herby” look when it was done cooking.
5. I brought the soup up to a boil and then turned it to low to simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste it often to see if it has the flavor you are looking for. If you are concerned about the heat, you can skip the crushed red pepper and only add it to individual bowls to give the adults a kick but spare the kids! My kiddos ate up this soup but they definitely asked for more milk to combat the spicy!
6. We added a little swirl of cream to each bowl of soup to make it a little bit creamier. Yum! We served our soup with a beautiful salad and, those who could, ate it with delicious spelt baguettes from Adawehi Farm. Delicious. Enjoy!
