Home cooking

Butternut Squash Soup*

The essentials for this recipe include: (1) electricity, (2) a blender device of some sort, (3) a heating element, preferably a stove and/or oven, (4) a good cooking playlist- I recommend this one. Or this one. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 butternut squash
•  2 yellow onions
• 1 apple
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp. each of sage, basil, ginger 
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out any seeds, and place the halves face-down in a roasting pan. Put the pan in a 375 - 400 oven for 45 - 50 minutes (on our oven this is #7 or 8 out of '10', which I assume puts the temp in the 375 - 400 range). 

2. About 15 minutes before the squash is done, finely chop the apples and onions, and sautée them in a pan with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 - 1Tbsp. butter. Cook for approx. 10 minutes or until the onions are transparent and the apples are mushy. We left the skins on the apples, but you can choose to peel them beforehand. 

3. Check on the squash after 45 - 50 minutes of it's being in the oven. It's done roasting if the skin is papery and pulls easily away from the pulp. It's okay if it's toasty because it won't be going in the soup anyway. Remove the skin exterior of the squash and any tough bits. Once you've roasted and de-skinned your squash, dice it into cubes. 

4. Put the squash, apples, onions and chicken broth into a medium-sized saucepan and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from heat. 

5. Now comes the metamorphosis part! You can use a blender, food processor, or hand/immersion blender. Rebecca and I treated ourselves to a hand blender at Christmas, and it's my #1 favorite thing. Blend the mixture at 1 minute intervals until it has the consistency of, well, soup. 

6. Once fully blended, stick the soup back on a medium heat and add the salt, pepper, and herbs/spices. Heat thoroughly for 5 - 10 minutes. 

7. Enjoy! Bon appetit! Pour the wine and cut the cheese! We bought a baguette on the way home (yes, bougie Kenyan lifestyle choice, I know) and it was glorious. 

* This is a recipe I made up, so it comfortably serves 2 very hungry adults, and there were no leftovers.