I was inspired by my Daughter-in-Law who spent her first Thanksgiving with me this year. I asked her what she would like to have at the dinner table for the holiday. Two dishes came to her mind. The first was corn pudding, which she made for us and it was so delicious there was very little left. The 2nd dish was a butternut squash soup. Well, I have never made this type of soup before so I asked around and a co-worker generously shared an old Women’s Guild recipe with me. I generally serve a special homemade soup the next day and invite my guest back for lunch. So I decided I would make this soup for that day. Plans changed, as they do in a lot of families. Some guest needed to go back to their homes the next day, others had already made plans. Fortunately my Son and Daughter-in-law were my exclusive guest for the entire weekend. Sadly they too had other plans for us. We visited, we shopped, we went sight-seeing and ate our meals while out and about. Don’t get me wrong it was a fabulous time spent with the two of them, but I never made the soup. That is until this weekend. We had a major snow storm blow through our area and I was hunkered down in the house. What better time than now to make this soup. I doctored up the recipe that was given to me, I don’t know what compels me to do that, but I did. It was well worth the work. Mark and I loved it thoroughly. Here’s my stab at Butternut Squash Soup.
Ingredients: yields 8 to 10 servings
- 1 TB vegetable oil
- 2 TB salted butter
- 2 medium leeks, white parts only, roughly chopped
- 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 1/2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2″-inch pieces
- 1 3/4 sweet corn kernels, drained if using canned, thawed if using frozen
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of nutmeg
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 3 to 4 TB heavy cream
- ground black pepper to taste
In a large stock pot, heat the oil and butter together over medium heat. Add the leeks, onion and garlic, saute them until the onions become soft. Add the chicken broth, squash, corn, salt, nutmeg and cumin. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the squash is very soft.
Using a food processor or blender, strain off the vegetables and puree them until they are smooth. You may have to work in batches and possible use some of the broth to achieve a smooth consistency. Return the pureed vegetables back to the pot of broth. Over medium heat, stir in the cream and heat thoroughly for serving.
Suggestions: The original recipe suggested garnishing with chopped chives and molasses. I wasn’t sure about the whole molasses thing, maybe I’ll try that with the left overs. Now we would like to try garnishing with some shredded sharp cheddar. Or, how about adding some shredded turkey or chicken to the soup once the cream is added?
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