(Because we don’t always have to make squash sweet, ok?)
I’m back kids. Sorry for all the being gone or whatever. Life gets in the way … a lot.
Now that I am on the road to being settled and am cooking in my pretty new kitchen, I figured that it was time to grace you all with a new recipe.
The other day, my sister (who was staying with me for the weekend) mentioned that she wanted butternut squash soup. It sounded delicious, so I made it for her with whatever I could find in my new (not at all unpacked) house.
After she ate it, she said I should write the recipe. I am lazy and often not inspired to write lately, so I agreed.
And here we are. Me writing down the (also super lazy) version of a soup, I made up on the spot, using the stuff I had in the pantry/freezer/spice drawer (oh yes! You read that correctly friends. I have a spice drawer right next to the stove, where I can see ALL my spices at the same time and it’s the best kitchen decision I have ever made).
SO here is what you need for this soup.
-1 Box of low sodium (so we can control the seasoning ourselves with salt from our fancy-ass spice drawer).
-3 (10 oz.) Bags of frozen/cubed butternut squash defrosted (you can use fresh, it’s just more work and require a little more cook time, and it wasn’t what I had in the house so that’s just the direction we are taking right now ok?).
-¼ Cup of sour cream.
-1 Small onion (finely diced… I used fresh for this, but I totally would have used the frozen ones if I had any left at the time).
-1 Tsp. herbs de province (one of my favorite spice drawer must haves… yup. Imma brag about this spice drawer all the time now. Deal with it).
-1 (heavy like me) Tsp. of Bell’s turkey seasoning (like I snarkily mentioned at the top of the recipe, we are going FULL savory with this one. We don’t have room for warm cinnamon and nutmeggy goodness in this soup. Let everyone else go that direction! We have sage and rosemary and thyme on our side. Hehehe see what I did there? Thyme on our side??? Man, I am funny).
-Salt and pepper to taste (this is really contingent on how peppery or salty you like your soups. I like then super peppery and pretty salty soooo we were generous).
OK! Let’s make soup.
On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (I found the single sheet parchment paper and I am obsessed with it now), add your diced onion, thawed squash cubes, the tsp. of bell’s and the tsp. of herbs de province, a touch of salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil (not mentioned in your ingredient list because I am an ass), and toss til coated.
Once the veggies are well coated in the herby deliciousness, roast in a preheated oven (350) for about 15 minutes, or until everything is soft and a little caramelized, but not overly roasted (we want flavor here but since we need to puree everything, we don’t want things too crispy).
While the squash is roasting, bring the one box of chicken broth to a simmer in a large pot (or a fancy cast-iron enameled Dutch oven, if you’re fancy like I am).
NOTE: this next step I did because I am not yet unpacked from my move and have NO idea what box my immersion blender is hiding in, but if I had it, I would have just added everything to the broth and pureed with that. But since I didn’t, I had to use my food processor so here is how that journey went.
Transfer the cooked onion and squash and all its drippings and olive oil and seasonings, to a food processor and add the ¼ cup sour cream (which helps emulsify and add some tang to the soup which is pretty necessary).
Blend on high until completely pureed, and transfer to your simmering broth.
Mix well and taste to make sure the seasonings are correct. Add more of anything you see fit.
Simmer on low heat for another 15-20 minutes just to bring all the flavors together (as Kevin Malone says in The Office, “everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot.”).
Serve in a cup with grilled cheese. Or in a bowl, topped with an additional dollop of sour cream and some toasted pumpkin seeds (which I was gonna do, but they were SO expensive at the store, and I said meh who needs them), and enjoy!
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