Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

I enjoy eating soup and I am also happy to have an excuse to get out these pumpkin soup bowls I purchased from Williams Sonoma a couple of years ago.  I love the time in September when fall starts to show up but we’re not quite ready for Halloween yet.  These bowls and tureen are perfect for that.

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Tonight I made butternut squash soup with a potato leaf topping.  This soup is creamy and good and somewhat filling although I don’t really find many soups to be filling except for chili.  But chili is more of a stew so I guess I can say that I don’t find any soups to be filling.  I eat them and then an hour later I’m looking around for a cheeseburger.

I’m not the only one.

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A quick internet search will show you that other people are happy to find a burger after the soup course.

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Just kidding….sorta.

This soup is quite easy to make and a family favorite, in spite of my critical percipience. (Ha! Look that one up!   I just found it on the cheeseburger internet search.)  I’ve made this soup many times and like the garlic pasta from a couple of days ago, I typically dump ingredients rather than measure.  I’ll give you the original recipe and then you can dump from there.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash

1  14.5-ounce can chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup half-and-half

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup salted cashews, finely chopped

Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scoop out the seeds.  Chop into two-inch pieces and boil or steam until tender ( I used my pressure cooker for 6 minutes in a cup of water – super quick and easy). (I’m determined that I will get you ALL hooked on pressure cookers.)  Puree the cooked squash with 3/4 cup chicken broth and set aside.  In a medium stock pot, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the garlic until soft.  Stir in the flour and ginger.  Slowly add the rest of the chicken broth and stir until smooth.  Add the pureed squash.  (I used an immersion blender to make sure it was completely smooth after adding.)  Add the half-and-half and reduce heat to simmer.  Salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving stir in the cashews.

Fall Leaves Potato Garnish

2 medium potatoes

water

oil

salt and paprika

Peel and slice the potatoes and place in water.  Use a cookie cutter to cut leaf shapes from the slices of potatoes. Pat the leaves dry with a paper towel. Fry in about 1 inch of oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt and paprika.

Here are a few photos to help you on your way.  I cut the potatoes with a small metal cookie cutter. I have bunches and bunches of cookie cutters so finding a good one wasn’t hard.

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I fried them in a small pan of oil.  I used a soybean and canola blend from Wesson. I have a little bonus slice in my pan at this point.

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Then I sprinkled salt and paprika on top.

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This potato idea came a Southern Living cookbook.  I think it has some great possibilities for other shapes and other occasions.

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It’s raining outside right now so this was a perfect choice for cozy September supper.

 

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3 Responses to Butternut Squash Soup

  1. Merry Carol September 25, 2015 at 6:19 am #

    Squash soup and potato garnish is just so fall…love the idea of cutting potato with cookie cutter.

  2. Sally Stempinski September 25, 2015 at 12:20 pm #

    I think you could make shapes for any holiday! But I bet you already thought of that. : )

  3. Anonymous September 27, 2015 at 2:08 pm #

    Looks very yummy!

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