I pity the foo...

Who doesn't like butternut squash soup!

Regretably I didn't take this picture because I'm too busy eating this soup. Sure, you can make it with cumin, lime, ginger, curry and god knows what, but I prefer NOTHING.

I got one of these delicious squashes before thanksgiving and just haven't decided what to do with it. It would never have been as good as this if I tried to cram as much mise en place as I could in.

I decided I wanted to make a soup on my way home from work and I didn't want to spend all night doing it. I'm impressed with myself that I was able to bang it out in about half an hour with half of that simmering time. Everything is about this recipe is designed to make it quick cooking.

I originally roasted the squash to develop some of those declicious dry heat sugars, but it ended up saving me time since it was already cooked when I added it to the soup. The smoky bacon gives it great body and goes so well with the roasted squash making it hearty and earthy. It has an amazing velvety consistency and is perfect in the cold november rain. I highly encourage anyone to make this, but it's a very small recipe so double it if it's for more than one person. Since there's no cream in it it will keep for a long time in the fridge and reheat well.


Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
serves 2

1 1/2 tsp bacon fat (I had some in the freezer but if you cook bacon for it, crumble it over the top for garnish)
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 medium onion, small dice
1/2 medium-small carrot, brunoise (1/8" dice)
1/4 celery stalk, brunoise
1 1/2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 sprig of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Preheat the broiler to it's highest heat, broil. Rub the squash slices with olive oil. Place on the highest rack, closest to the heat source. Flip the squash when it starts to brown lightly, careful not to burn it.

I used the time the squash was cooking to cut up the rest of the ingredients.

Heat the fats in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, carrot, celery, rosemary and thyme and season liberally with salt and pepper. Sweat the ingredients five minutes or so until softened and aromatic, stirring frequently. If you wanted to add a splash of white wine at this point you could and let it cook off for a minute.

While the mirepoix is sweating, cut the roasted squash into a small dice, trimming off any burnt edges.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the squash and bring down to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes. Remove thyme and rosemary sprigs and blender with a stick blender until smooth. Check for seasoning adding more salt and pepper as necessary. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a week. Also very good cold. Garnish with crumbled bacon.