Butternut Squash Soup (with recipe!)

Butternut Squash Soup

- Butternut Squash
- One stick of unsalted butter
- White sugar and brown sugar
- Balsalmic vinegar
- Fresh basil or other herbs (sage is nice)
- Large onion, medium diced
- 1 or 2 carrots, chopped medium
- 1 quart or more of chicken or vegetable stock
- Pine nuts

1. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, then halve and remove seeds. Cut into one-inch cubes and put into a large bowl. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper.

2. In a heavy skillet, warm a stick of unsalted butter over medium heat until it stops bubbling and starts to brown ever so slightly. Add to the butter 1.5 tbsp sugar, 1.5 tbsp brown sugar, and 3 or 4 tbsp balsalmic vinegar. Stir to dissolve the sugars and put in a small handful of herbs -- I used dried basil flower heads. Other tasty ideas for this mixture: sage for the herbs, or molasses for some of the sugar content.

3. Pour the butter mixture over the squash pieces and tumble them around to coat them. Spread squash pieces on a large rimmed baking sheet (use a spatula to get the last bits of the butter mix) and bake at 400° for 45-50 minutes. Squash should be caramelized and browned a bit at the tips and corners. Take out of the oven and let cool a bit. Puree in a food processer, adding some soup stock to thin it out if necessary.

4. Heat some olive oil in a large soup kettle over medium heat and add the diced onion and some salt and pepper. Stir to keep from sticking. When the onion is quite softened (not translucent), add in chopped carrots. Stir and cook until the carrots have sweated a bit, then pour in your quart of soup stock.

5. Bring to a simmer, then add the squash puree and stir to combine. You may need to add more soup stock to thin it out more, depending on the size of your squash. (I had a monster squash and needed nearly 1.5 quarts of stock to finish it.) Let it simmer on low for a bit while you prepare the pine nuts and fresh herbs:

6. To toast pine nuts, put them in a single layer in a heavy, dry skillet over medium heat. Do not leave this skillet unattended! Shake the skillet as it heats up and the nuts start to toast ever so slightly, and remove them from the pan as soon as they appear done -- golden brown in parts.

7. Serve hot with toasted pine nuts and torn fresh herbs. Yummy and very filling! For a truly rich addition, stir in a little cream or plain yogurt at the end -- but I thought it was very creamy all by itself!