Anxiously awaiting autumn

I don’t know about you, but this summer has been pretty brutal in terms of weather.  Here it is, end of September in New England, and we’re looking at 90+% humidity and warm weather still.  Personally I’m kinda sick of it.  Fall’s my favorite season, and I’m hoping it doesn’t skip us entirely.

What with all the hot and sticky weather, cooking hasn’t been happening as much.  Some sauces, some quick chicken meals, etc.  Some of them may have warranted posting but I neglected to do so.  But I’m back now, and despite the warm weather I’m back to soups!

The other day I threw together another butternut squash soup — first of the season! — and I did it a little different than before.  If you’re familiar with the butternut squash soup I’ve made in the past, you know that I love to put some apples and leeks in there.  This time, with no apples or leeks in the house, I changed it up by upping the onion content and adding garlic.  It really came out very savory and delicious.

• 3 onions, chopped

• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• one butternut squash, peeled and chopped (or you can use pre-chopped squash.  I used about a 20 oz package)

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2 to 3 cups of chicken broth

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil

• some pinches of salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg

Get the olive oil heating over some medium heat and once it’s warm add the garlic.  Let that heat up and then add the onions, celery and carrots.  Stir often until the onions are translucent.  Add the broth and butternut squash, bring to a boil and then lower the heat to low (or a touch higher), loosely cover it and let it simmer until the butternut squash is soft.  Remember to stir occasionally, too.

When the butternut squash is soft, grab a hand mixer and carefully (watch you don’t splash yourself with hot soup!) puree the soup to desired consistency.  I left it pretty smooth but with some larger chunks of vegetables, which is pretty easy to do with the hand mixer.  If you want it perfectly smooth, use your blender!

Season to taste with the salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg and either let it keep simmering for later or enjoy now!  If you let it simmer for later, be sure to check in on it once in awhile to stir it and make sure it’s not cooking too hot.  You don’t want to burn it.

This makes enough soup for a couple of servings today and leftovers for at least a day or two, making it a great meal for couples.  Get home from work, get the pot of soup on the stove and in twenty minutes or so you’ve got a great homemade soup to enjoy.

Last night we served it with a tasty tomato-basil salad with bread.  Delicious!

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Tags: butternut squash, carrots, celery, cinnamon, garlic, nutmeg, soup