I broke out the stick/immersion blender that Jason got me for Christmas this afternoon! I wanted to to whip together some butternut squash soup that I've been meaning to make for awhile (Literally, awhile-- using the squash I bought back in...oh...November sometime. Luckily, they keep like potatoes ;-)

The blender worked wonderfully, it took me about 2 or so minutes to break the squash down into a nice puree. And cleanup was a cinch, since I didn't have to dirty any additional dishes, other than the small bottom of the blender, which I rinsed easily at the sink.

The resulting puree was pretty sweet, probably from the squash and the carrots (check out all that beta carotene!). I added a little curry powder and turmeric to balance the flavors, and put a dollop of sour cream on it as a garnish. And to think I wanted to make a healthy soup! Not only is squash super cheap this time of year, the squash (and carrots) are packed full of vitamins, and the soup as a whole is super low in fat--if you can resist the garnishing! The soup was also pretty rich, so a small bowl was satisfying.


To make:

I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, and brushed it with a little olive oil. I roasted it for half an hour or so (400 degree oven, you could probably use higher), and dropped a couple cloves of garlic down into the scooped out part to roast as well. While that was going, I sauteed some onion and carrots in butter and a dash of olive oil, then added 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water into the pot to bring to a simmer. I skinned the squash halves and cubed the flesh, and threw them into the simmering water. After about a half an hour, the flesh got nice and tender. You can use any sort of blender at this point (although you might want to let it cool for use in a traditional blender) to make a nice puree, then thin as needed with additional water or stock, and season to taste. I felt like mine needed quite a bit of salt and a nice kick of cayenne, but a lot of the recipes I saw called for a variety of different seasonings, including thyme/sage, or even cinnamon.