You can make this winter squash soup with any winter squash. This a great recipe for the weekend or a day you get home from work early so that you can do other things while the squash bakes. Since I almost always use knobby-textured buttercup, kachoba, or red Kuri squash for this recipe, baking the squash prevents me from having to peel it!
Jill’s Winter Squash Soup
- 2 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 large shallot or sweet onion, finely chopped
- 3 lbs squash (butternut, buttercup, kabocha, red Kuri, or blue Hubbard are good varieties to use)
- 3+ cups of water
- ½ cup cream or half and half
- 1 tbs maple syrup or dark brown sugar
- pinch of nutmeg
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Poke several fork holes in the skins of each side of the squash, and place face down in a baking dish with ½ inch of water—Bake for 50 minutes, or until skin is browned and collapsed in a couple of places. Remove from oven, and when cool enough, scoop the squash out of skins into a bowl. Set aside. (You can do this up to a day ahead.) In a heavy-bottomed stockpot or dutch oven, melt butter until foaming, and then sauté shallot or onion until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add squash and 3 cups of water to the pot and bring to a simmer, stirring often. (Optional: Once combined, turn off the heat, and ladle into a food processor or blender to puree. Pour pureed soup back into the pot.) Add cream and maple syrup and stir to combine over low heat. Note: Do not boil the soup once the cream has been added. Serve and enjoy.