Try this smooth, golden soup that can be made with an inexpensive seasonal ingredient that tastes "like fall." Roasting the squash in a hot oven browns the edges and brings out the sweetness in this simple but healthy soup.
To peel whole squash, set a large pot of water to boil. After it reaches a boil, add whole squash and boil, submerged, for 4 minutes. Remove quickly to cold water to stop cooking process. Once cool to touch, peel with vegetable peeler. (Boiling the squash makes for much easier peeling, please don't skip this step.)
Cut peeled squash in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Cut into 1 inch cubes and place in large bowl. Peel onions and cut into quarters. Place in bowl with squash cubes and drizzle olive oil over all. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and lightly with sage. Toss gently, so as not to break apart onion pieces. Pour in a single layer on a large cookie sheet. Be careful not to crowd, you may need to use two cookie sheets.
Place in pre-heated 400 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes, checking often to guard against burning. Flip over a piece of squash to check for browning on the bottom side. Once browning is reached, flip squash and onion pieces with spatula so more areas can be browned. Continue cooking, checking often, until squash is soft and many pieces have browned edges.
Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before scraping into blender or food processor, making sure to get the browned bits off the pan. Add some chicken broth and process until smooth and of desired consistency. The amount of chicken broth needed will vary. You may have to puree in multiple batches. Once smooth, pour into pot and heat gently just until serving temperature, adding more salt, pepper, and sage to taste if desired.
If the soup does not taste as sweet as you'd like, stir in a teaspoon or so of honey or brown sugar until desired sweetness is reached. You could stir in a bit of heavy cream or add a dollop of sour cream to each individual serving, but these additions are entirely optional.
Note: This soup freezes well. To re-heat, allow soup to thaw most of the way, then puree in blender to regain the smooth texture. Heat gently until serving temperature.
Another Note: If you do not wish to make soup, the squash and onions roasted as detailed above are delicious as is.
Source: My own recipe.
By Shawna from Paris, TN
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YUM! I love butternut squash. I usually just peel, and cut it into chunks and boil it, then mash it with butter, salt and pepper. Any suggestions on how to peel and cut it easier? This is always the hard part.
Original recipe poster here to answer question by Michele:
For easy peeling of butternut squash for any recipe that calls for cut squash, follow the first steps in the recipe above. It says: "To peel whole squash, set a large pot of water to boil. After it reaches a boil, add whole squash and boil, submerged, for 4 minutes. Remove quickly to cold water to stop cooking process. Once cool to touch, peel with vegetable peeler. (Boiling the squash makes for much easier peeling, please don't skip this step.)"
Incidentally, the squash is also slightly easier to cut into cubes after this process because the edges of it have slightly softened from the boiling process and you can more easily get a start in it with your knife.
After laboring for what seemed like ages trying to peel squash for this soup, I did an internet search and found the "boil and peel" method online. Boiling the whole squash really softens that tough rind-like skin. It works great!
THis soup was great! I added two sweet potatoes, a little garlic and a little cayenne pepper. Yum!
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