Butternut Squash Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 4 cups butternut squash, peeled, diced, seeded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 slices bacon
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2 cup carrot, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons thyme, dried
• 1 cup heavy cream

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2 cut and peel a butternut squash. remove seeds and dice into chunks.
• 3 approx 1 inch cubes. yeild 4 cups diced.
• 4 toss cubes of squash in olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on a cookie sheet and roast in oven for 45 mins to 60 minutes or until cooked through.
• 5 some squash may cook for less or more time depending on type.
• 6 midway through roasting, toss squash cubes to turn for even browning.
• 7 while squash is roasting, fry two strips of bacon until crisp in a heavy bottom pot.
• 8 remove bacon from pot and reserve approx 2 t bacon fat in bottom of pot.
• 9 reserve bacon for topping of soup later. let drain on paper towel while soup cooks.
• 10 saute, onions, celery, and carrots until softened on medium heat in bacon fat.
• 11 add thyme and garlic to vegetable mixture in pot and cook for 1 minute.
• 12 add stock to vegetables and add squash once cooked with all juices from cookie sheet.
• 13 bring to boil and then reduce heat. uncovered, let soup simmer 20 minutes.
• 14 after simmering, remove from pot and puree all soup or put through a food mill until well pureed. use caution when using a blender to puree the hot soup. lid may blow off so hold a kitchen towel over lid and puree in small amounts at a time.
• 15 strain pureed soup through a sieve for a more silky soup or leave as is for a more rustic soup.
• 16 place pureed and strained soup back into pot and add heavy cream. may use 1/2 and 1/2. then stir and mix well. simmer 5 minutes.
• 17 taste for seasonings and add salt or pepper as needed.
• 18 if the soup is too thick you may thin with more stock as needed.
• 19 crumble bacon on top and serve with croutons. see my recipe for homemade croutons that are perfect for this soup. croissant croutons.
• 20 you can also add 1/4 t cayenne pepper for some heat if you like a little spice.
• 21 also, try it with fresh pumpkin (fresh pie pumpkins) and use 1/2 t nutmeg in recipe and finish with a drizzle of maple syrup on top with the crumbled bacon. that would be a perfect autumn soup by the fire.