Donnie’s Blog

Here is a tasty and easy recipe for a great butternut squash soup!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coarsely chop up two medium onions, and spread them in the bottom of a baking pan or dish.

Take a butternut squash, chop off the stem, halve it, and clean out the seeds. Cut it into 1/2″ to 3/4″ slices. Spread the slices over the onions. (Yes you can leave the skin on the squash. I do - it’s easier that way.)

Drizzle olive oil all over the squash and onions, then mix it all up to distribute the oil over everything.

Season the squash and onions with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Throw the dish into the oven (uncovered), and let it cook until all squash slices are fork-tender and have a little color; 50 to 60 minutes. The onions will have some significant color at that point as well.

The next step is to puree the squash and onions, 2-5 cloves of garlic, and one quart of chicken stock. (If you don’t like strong garlic flavor, see the variation below!)

• If you have an immersion blender, throw all the squash and onions into a pot, add the chicken stock and the garlic. Blend until smooth.
• If you only have a regular blender, blend the squash, onions, and garlic in your blender, in small to medium batches. Make sure to add some chicken stock to each batch to facilitate blending. Be very careful blending the squash; it is extremely hot! Pour the blended results into a pot.

Season to taste!

All told, it probably takes 20-30 minutes of actual effort, and the soup is just fantastic.

Variation:

If you don’t like a strong garlic flavor, use a head of roasted garlic instead of raw garlic. You can cut the top off of a head of garlic so that most of the cloves are exposed, put it in a small baking container, drizzle with some olive oil, and then season with salt and pepper. Finally, cover the container with a lid or with aluminum foil so that the garlic roasts and steams at the same time.

Slap the garlic into the oven at the same time the squash goes in, but take it out after about half an hour so it doesn’t overcook.

When the squash and onions finally come out of the oven, the garlic should have cooled enough for you to extract the cloves. They should be soft and light brown at this point, and amazingly flavorful.

If you make the soup with roasted garlic, it will be smoother and creamier than if you make it with the raw garlic. The garlic flavor will be subtle and delightful.