While on our honeymoon a couple of years ago, my wife and I tried out an amazing restaurant in central Florida. We don’t usually go for the lavish tasting menus, but just that once, it was a fantastic (nine-course!) experience. One of my wife’s first selections was a butternut squash soup, and as I perused the vegetables at the grocery store on my way home, I decided to bring back a bit of that magic.
(Pro tip: when you try out a tasting menu, be careful with the wine pairings! At this restaurant, they wouldn’t take our plates until we were done with both the food and the wine since they didn’t want to rush us. This rapidly turned into my wife switching our wineglasses and insisting that I catch up…)
The butternut squash is a rather phallic gourd – and I know you think I’m kidding, but seriously, check Google Images! Peeling and chopping the narrow portion is easy enough; it’s only when you slice into the bulbous end that you reveal the pumpkin-like core that needs to be scooped out. The flesh is a rather bright orange when ripe and it takes a decent amount of knife work to get to chopped, usable squash, but this recipe gets easier once you get past that step.
Roasting the squash yields tender, flavorful flesh, and after roasting, it’s a few short steps to a nice, pureed soup. You can achieve the same end with any number of other vegetables – I tried out a roasted carrot and cumin soup last week, for one example – and the squash’s sweetness goes a long way towards a flavorful dinner. Since it’s so similar to the pumpkin, I thought some cinnamon would go well with it, but nutmeg would be nice, too. Finish the soup with some fresh herbs and saltines and you’ve got a gourmet meal on your hands. I’m not sure that it was quite as good as on our honeymoon, but the price was definitely right!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
2 large butternut squash
1 stick cinnamon, ground
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 yellow onions, chopped
12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Peel and chop the squash into a rough dice – getting an even chop isn’t too important here as long as the pieces are basically similar, so don’t be too obsessive – and scoop the seeds out of the bulbous section. Toss the chunks with a few tablespoons of olive oil, season generously with kosher salt and add the cinnamon. (If you don’t have a cinnamon stick, a teaspoon ground is probably enough). Spread the chunks out evenly on a pan and roast until tender, 35-40 minutes.
Melt the butter over low heat in a large pot. Add the onions, toss to coat, and allow to soften for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If the onions brown, your heat is set too high). Add half the chopped sage toward the end of the onions’ cooking time. Add the chicken broth and roasted squash chunks to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Puree the soup in batches using a blender (or an immersion blender if you’re that well equipped). Check the seasoning, then return to the pot and hold on low heat until you’re ready to serve. Garnish the bowls with the remaining chopped sage.
Enjoy!
-HML
[ad]
