Happy Fall! What do you do when it’s rainy and gloomy outside, and you have a bunch of delicious butternut squash? Make soup! This is going to be a fall tradition in my house.
My garden was a bust this year, but a friend had an excess amount of squash and gifted me a bunch! I was excited to make this soup. I absolutely love butternut squash soup but had never made it from scratch. With all the nasty preservatives in today’s groceries, I have been trying to cook from scratch more and more often.
This soup is sweet, savory and a little bit spicy with a side of sass. Just like Yours Truly!
You can follow the recipe exactly or change it up. The amount of water you use really depends on your constancy preference. Mine is a bit thick. But I imagine I will add liquid when I cook it to thin it out. It’s almost like a condensed soup.
This recipe makes about 11 quarts. I only canned 7 and have the rest in the freezer. I would have liked to garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley and some rye toast. I didn’t have either on hand, and wasn’t going to the store for the sake of a photo. But man, that rye toast would have been great!
Happy Cooking and Canning!
Savory, Sweet, Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with a side of Sass
This is a fairly simple recipe; it just takes some time. Most of my time was spent peeling, de-seeding and chopping the squash.
Ingredients
10 lbs. of peeled, de-seeded butternut squash,
3 large onions, chopped
I bulb of garlic, peeled
Olive oil for roasting and sautéing
Salt and pepper
Splash of white wine
8 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbs ground turmeric
1 Tbs ground ginger
1 Tbs ancho chili powder
1 Tbs white pepper
Directions
- Toss squash in olive oil, salt and pepper on cookie sheets, bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until soft and roasted. I had to do this two times on 2 cookie sheets each.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in stock pot and sauté onions and garlic. I peeled the garlic but not mince or chop it. The emulsifier will do that later. Once onions are clear, deglaze pan with white wine.
- When squash is ready, put into stock pot with onions and garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings as desired. I added a bit more sugar and garlic powder at the end, as my garlic bulb was pretty small.
- Using an emersion blender, puree the soup. Add more water if you like a thinner consistency.
- Pour soup into sanitized quart jars that have a splash of lemon or lime juice in them. Leave one inch head space Process at 10 psi for 90 minutes.
Notes
- Use as little or as much ancho chili powder as you like. I like a small kick, but I don’t like burning my taste buds. Most people like it spicier than I do.
