butternut squash and cauliflower

23 January 2014

Welcome friends. I woke up this morning thinking about how I could start this post. I wasn't sure whether to start by talking about the squash or about my experiences with the soup. Let me start by talking about the squash. For some reason, pumpkin seems to steal the spotlight when it comes to winter squash. Don't get me wrong, I do love pumpkin. However, I don't remember eating butternut squash before I first made this soup.

I think that butternut squash has enjoyed an increase in popularity over the past several years. And for good reason. It isn't as heavy tasting as pumpkin and is more reliable than acorn squash, which can get stringy if it has been sitting around too long.

I look for squash with a long neck. The seeds are in the end opposite to the stem and there isn't a lot of squash in the portion around the seeds. I have read some complaints about peeling butternut squash, but I cut the squash into rings and then cut away the peel from each piece.

I originally discovered this soup in Saveur Cooks Authentic French. I have made some minor adjustments based on the way that I use the soup. The recipe makes a lot of soup, so I typically freeze half of it. I have taken this to many a pot-luck dinner and had people ask me for the recipe. At first, I was surprised because it is such an easy soup to make.

Over time, this soup has worked its way onto my Thanksgiving Menu. I also like to serve it with chicken or meatloaf. You can use either vegetable or chicken stock. I don't really have a preference for which type of stock I use.

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Butternut Squash Soup

40 min. prep time | 1 hr 15 min simmer time | chill overnight

bowl of butternut squash soup

Ingredients

serves 8 to 10

  • 4 pounds butternut squash
  • 1/2 small cauliflower
  • 1 Tbl butter
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 leek, white part only, cleaned and diced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 6 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

cut the squash into rings about 1½ inches in width starting from the stem. Use your knife to cut away the peel from each ring and then cut the rings into cubes. Place the cubes in a large bowl. I usually stop cutting the squash into rings once I get to the bulb and the seeds. Cut the stem from the cauliflower and cut the cauliflower in half. Use your knife to cut the florets into large pieces and place them in the bowl with the squash. Peel the onion and dice. Clean the leek and dice it as well.

place the butter and olive oil in a large pot and cook at medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the squash, cauliflower, onion, leek, salt, and pepper to the pot and stir a few times to combine. Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

add the stock to the pot and increase the heat to medium-high until the soup begins to boil. Once the soup has started to boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered. Cook the soup for about an hour and stir the soup every ten minutes. The vegetables should be very tender. Cover the soup and remove it from heat. Allow the soup to cool for about an hour.

working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and puree. Pour the processed soup into a clean pot. Once all the soup has been pureed, stir in the nutmeg. At this point, you can reheat the soup to serve it, or place it in the refrigerator to cool. Once the soup has been refrigerated over night, you can also place it in freezer-safe containers and freeze it.