Roasted Winter Squash Soup

I made a pot of squash soup the other day and it turned out to be absolutely delicious.

I adapted this recipe from Ina's Winter Squash Soup recipe.  Just tweaked it a bit to fit my taste.

I decided to use a couple different kinds of winter squash as I had been given a buttercup squash. I already had a butternut squash from my garden.

I've never used a buttercup squash before, so this seemed like a great opportunity to give a whirl.  They look like this:

This isn't my photo.  I forgot to take a photo before I started.  Bad me.

Anyway…I took out my good knife. The one that cuts the butternut squashes with ease.  Barely a dent.

So then I tried the cleaver.  That made a cut, but I couldn't move it any further with my own strength.  So out came the hammer.

I know it should have been a wooden mallet, but I don't have one.  After extensive pounding, I got a couple good chunks off the sucker.  Sliced off the outer layer and managed to dice them up.  Holy cow.  I ended up with a bruised palm from holding the cleaver.  Ouch.

Now that I'm done complaining, let's get back to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
S&P
1-2 Butternut squash - peeled and diced into 1 inch chunks
1 other type of winter squash - peeled and diced into 1 inch chunks (optional)
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
1 medium to large onion - diced
2 medium carrots - diced
2 celery stalks - diced
4 cups chicken brother
1 cup half and half
1 Tbl butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place diced squash on cookie sheet.  drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well with your hands.  Place squash in oven and roast until fork tender and lightly browned.  Stir halfway through cooking process.  Approximately 20-30 minutes.  May take longer if you do larger pieces.

Meanwhile, put 1 Tbl olive oil in your favorite soup pot.  Add onions, carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper.   Sauté until onions are tender and translucent.  Add the roasted squash, chicken broth and pumpkin puree.  Bring to a light boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cover.  Cook until carrots are tender about 20 minutes.

Take pot off heat and using an immersion blender, puree the soup mixture until smooth.  (You can also use a blender, but be careful with the hot soup.  Take out the center piece of the blender top and cover with clean dish towel before you blend.  Blend the soup in batches.)

Add the half and half and pat of butter to finish the soup.  Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Happy Eating!