Social Kitchen

I don’t know what it is about January.  It’s by far the worst month of the year.  All the festive decorations and trees are depressingly on the side of the driveway, all those delicious holiday flavored creamers are gone, it’s still ridiculously cold outside but you can no longer look forward to sledding during the time off, and pumpkin flavored things no longer seem appropriate.  Oh and.  You really just can’t cut into another butternut squash.

And so I give you butternut squash soup!  Using frozen butternut squash.  It’s brilliant and so fitting for this painfully lethargic time of year.  Eat it steaming with a warm piece of fresh baguette and you may even forget that it’s January.  Or eat it really slowly and maybe it will be February by the time you’re done.  Yum.

Butternut Squash Soup

This soup should taste tangy and sweet and spicy, but no taste overwhelming the others.  I have put the amounts that I prefer, but start out slow and adjust according to your taste.

2 packages frozen butternut/winter squash puree, defrosted

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 cups vegetable stock

2.5 tbsp. honey

1.5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1.5 tsp. black pepper

1.5 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. all spice

1.5 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup yogurt

2 tbsp. heavy cream

1 cinnamon stick

salt, to taste

1. Heat a medium sized pot over medium heat and add olive oil.  Sautee onions until they are translucent.  Add ginger and let it soften.  Add the garlic and let it cook for an additional minute.

2. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve.  Immediately after the sugar has dissolved, add stock and defrosted squash.  Stir to combine everything and let it heat up.

3. Add honey, apple cider vinegar, black pepper, cinnamon, all spice, lemon juice and salt.  Place cinnamon stick in the soup.

4. Whisk in the yogurt and taste.  Let the soup heat up again.  Adjust all of the seasonings, if needed.

5. Blend the soup either using an immersion blender, or a regular blender, making sure that the cinnamon stick is discarded.

6. Let the soup come to a simmer and whisk in cream.  Serve with warmed bread.  Or with granola sprinkled on top!

This entry was posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:09 am and is filed under savory, Uncategorized.