When I was in grad school in DC, there was a market nearby that I would visit in between classes for lunch. They served the best butternut squash soup I had ever tasted. Combined with a slice of crusty bread, it was the perfect lunch on crisp fall days. Unfortunately, we don’t have any “crisp” afternoons here in Phoenix so I don’t think of the soup often, but when my daughter picked out a butternut squash at the supermarket the other day, I knew exactly what I would make with it.
I’ve tinkered with this recipe for many years since graduate school and finally settled on this one a year or two ago.
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 Butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, and cut into 1” cubes
- 8 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- Dash fresh ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
- Heat olive oil in large stock pot. Add onion and cook until translucent.
- Add celery and carrots and continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add flour and mix thoroughly.
- Add chicken stock, squash, pumpkin, spices, salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until squash is soft.
- Add brown sugar and mix until thoroughly dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth. Be careful while blending. The mixture is hot!
- Put mixture back on heat and simmer until ready to serve (up to 30 minutes).
- Before serving, add cream or milk and heat through.
Paul says that not only is this his all time favorite soup ever, it ranks among his top 10 favorite foods. But for the record, when I served it for dinner tonight, Aly asked me why it tastes like rocks. lol
Leave a Reply