Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

I put a link to this recipe in my previous post, but it was sooo good and I had made a few modifications to it so I thought I would elaborate here.

I found the original recipe for this silky smooth soup on the Food Network’s web site after doing a google search.  I knew I wanted to make butternut squash soup for my winter solstice dinner, and I thought it was going to be way complicated, but I didn’t care! I WANT IT NOW (that is the voice in my head that we like to call “Veruca Salt”)

Here’s the original recipe, then I will note on the bottom the modifcations I made to make it tastier and VEGAN.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled

Nutmeg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

1 onion, chopped

6 cups chicken stock

Directions

Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. In large pot melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot. Stir and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Serve.

butternut squash vs. cheapo peeler. the squash wins!

First let me say that you must have a very sharp, sturdy vegetable peeler or big muscly arms (or BOTH) to peel a butternut squash.  They do not give up their skins so easily!  My cheapo dinky veggie peeler bit the dust after making this recipe!

How I wendified the recipe:  I chopped up one clove of garlic and cooked that with the onion.  I think everything I cook has some garlic in it somewhere. I love it! If you want this to be completely vegan, substitute olive oil for the butter.  I also added one chopped carrot and cooked that with the squash.  I substituted organic vegetable stock for the chicken stock, and it turned out great.  I set aside one of the six cups rather than put it all into the pot, and used this cup when blending the cooked squash.  This made it much easier.  Those of you who are friends with your blender know, it doesn’t do mushier stuff so well, so you have to scrape the sides, add a little veg stock, blend, scrape the sides, add stock, blend, scrape, add, blend, scarpeaddblend scrapeaddblend AAHHHHH!

Oh, sorry. You can also add sour cream when serving like this stock photo has.  Of course, this would negate the soup’s vegan status.  I didn’t use it and it tasted sooo good.  And gorgeous, too! Everyone ate every last bit of it.  It wasn’t as difficult to make as I had anticipated.  I will definitely be making this again, although next time I will NOT share.