The arrival of cold weather signals the beginning of soup season; there’s just something about a bowl of hot soup that warms the soul as well as the body. Luckily, you can make soup from about anything, including leftovers, but one of my new favorites is butternut squash soup.
Yesterday I hit the Black Hills Farmers Market and loaded up on squash; today I made a pot of soup using an adaptation of Molly Wizenberg’s recipe from her book A Homemade Life. She adds two chopped pears to her soup, but I skipped them since I didn’t have any on hand.
Butternut Squash Soup
3 Tbsp olive oil
One 2-pound butternut squash (peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks)
1 medium yellow onion (peeled and coarsely chopped)
1 cup apple cider or juice
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
½ tsp salt
½ cup half-and-half or cream
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the squash and onion, stir to coat with oil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the cider and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the broth, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the mixture, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
Using a blender or food processor, and working in small batches, puree the soup until very smooth. An immersion blender also works very well and doesn’t require removing the soup from the pot. Return the soup to the pot and add the salt. Continue to cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat, until the soup has reduced to about one-half of its original volume. Stir occasionally. The final consistency is up to you, when it reaches a thickness that seems right, it’s ready. Add the half-and-half to the soup; allow the soup to warm up again if the half-and-half was cold. Serves 4 to 5.
