Butternut Squash Soup

I threw this soup together tonight. It was so good I decided to share. It’s probably not unique. It’s quite simple.

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Ingredients

Heat oven to 400 F. Foil a sheet pan. Spray the foil with oil to prevent too much sticking. Don’t use a silicone mat, because you want a little caramelization to happen.

Cut the seed bulb off the bottom of the squash. Halve it. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds. Prop up the squash bottoms on crumpled foil, drop in a pat of butter in the cavity, add salt and pepper.

Peel the neck of the squash and cut it into large cubes, about the size of marshmallows. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Toss onion and garlic and carrot with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on the oiled sheet pan.

Roast at 400 F for about an hour or more, until the onions get brown.

Remove the vegetables from the oven and transfer everything to a large sauce pot. Add chicken stock and mash it and then hit it with a stick blender until it is very smooth. This will take some time.

Add enough half and half (or more chicken stock) to get it to the consistency you prefer. Hit it with the stick blender for a couple more minutes. The end result should have a very creamy mouthfeel. Add a few drops of hot sauce if you like.

You can use supermarket chicken stock in a box if you like, but since Diana started making chicken for Gracie, I always have plenty of the stuff around. Don’t throw away rotisserie chicken bones: Pot of water, bones, carrot, onion, celery, black peppercorns, garlic with skin on, boil for an hour or more, strain, refrigerate.