Butternut Squash Soup

Soup is good food, especially when it's a fresh, homemade, pureed vegetable soup. Lately I've been experimenting a little bit with leftover vegetables as soup The baby especially enjoys velvety smooth veggie soups. Sadie will reluctantly agree that they are Ok.

Using a handheld immersion blender makes this recipe very easy to make. You can certainly use regular blender or food processor, but you'll wind up with some extra dirty dishesIf you don't have a handheld blender, consider getting one. It's a really fun gadget and you'll find a million reasons to use it.

Without any further ado:

• Bake an unpeeled butternut squash in a 400 degree oven. Prepare the squash by bisecting it lengthwise and chopping the halves into 4 equal pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes or until pieces are tender.


• Allow squash to cool and then scoop the soft flesh away from the skin.
  
• Place the squash meat in a large saucepan or small pot over low heat or flame. Begin using the immersion blender to break down the squash while slowly adding chicken stock.


• When enough stock has been added to reach the consistency of thin mashed potatoes, it'll be the right time to add the milk. Add enough milk to reach the desired consistency, a thick soup.


• Nice seasonings for this soup are salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin, all to taste. Less is usually more as far as seasonings go.

Some afterthoughts:

• I quartered an onion and added it to the tray of squash. This resulted in the onions getting a little charred and some of them had to be thrown out instead of incorporated into the soup. A tiny amount of charred bits turned up in the soup, but it sort of just looked like coarsely ground pepper. This was fine for my own personal consumption, but it didn't add much to the soup and will be avoided next time.


• Baking time for the squash might vary. Just keep an eye on it.


• It doesn't take long for the squash to cool off enough to comfortably handle. However, premature squash handling could cause burns so do use caution.


• It wouldn't be too hard to adapt this recipe to blender usage. Just put some or all of the squash in the blender, add some chicken stock to thin it out, and blend. Transfer squash puree to a large sauce pan or pot over low heat and continue to add stock, milk, and seasonings as described above.


• Let your imagination and taste buds be your guide when seasoning!


• Enjoy!

Other possible pureed soups:

• Potato-asparagus


• Potato-spinach


• Carrot


• Corn (very good with a small dollop of pesto)


• Fresh artichoke (delicious but EXTREMELY high in fiber-enjoy in small portions on a Saturday or Sunday that you plan on spending at home)