Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Delicious soup in a hand thrown bowl, yum!  Terra sigilata in & out with an inner over glaze of robins egg blue, fired to cone 6

We grow a lot of winter squash each year.  This soup is one of our favorite ways to consume the bounty.  It’s simple and very tasty.  Roasting the squash brings out the earthiness of the squash adding a lightly caramelized bit of sweetness to the finished product.

Aim for nicely uniform pieces so they cook evenly.  Peeling butternuts can be a hassle if you are not using a harp peeler.  I’ve been using this style peeler for years.  Every kitchen I’ve ever worked in that was not using this style peeler, I brought along my own or got a dozen or so for the prep staff and they have all loved them!  If you despise peeling winter squash this little gadget makes the job a fairly simple matter.

Toss with oil and season everything liberally.  Each step of the journey to soup you are building flavor…don’t skimp or your finished product will taste thin.

This is what you’re looking for, bits of dark on the squash and nice soft fork tender pieces.  Scrape this whole pan into the blender and you’ll be eating soup in a trice.

I make stock.  Yes you can buy stock.  I know it saves time.  Stock from a can or box does not offer the same flavors that homemade can, period.  Having stock on hand (or in the freezer) is without question one of the simplest ways to take good cooking over the top to greatness.  I could wax poetic about stock, but I’ll spare you.  Let me just say that making stock is NOT labor intensive or difficult.  We buy all our chickens whole from Kingbird Farm.   Every time we cook a chicken the bones are saved and with a bit of carrot, celery onion and some herbs a great stock follows.  I cook stock overnight on a very low flame or the woodstove in winter.  Once it’s in pot you can forget it for hours…  Easy-peasy.  Pair with a nice salad and you have a winter feast for dinner.

If you’re feeling industrious and have a lot of squash on hand this soup also freezes well.  Enjoy!

Recipe:  Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

3 pounds of butternut squash – about 2 nice sized squash

1 medium onion

1.5 quart of chicken stock – preferably homemade, if making a vegetarian soup use vegetable stock

½ cup cream –

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Ginger – small knob of fresh ginger grated about 2 tsp.

Directions:  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and move rack to top third of oven.  Peel and dice squash and onion.  Lay on sheet pan drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Allow the squash to roast on high for about 35-40 minutes until tender and nicely browned.  Remove from pan into blender.  Add stock, cream and ginger…taste and adjust seasoning.  Blend until smooth.  Garnish with a drizzle of cream if desired. Delicious, warm and filling!

*anna