I love soup. With the constant round of sickies that we've had around here, this soup has been a staple in our house this year. And now that there are ginormous butternut squash (squashes? haha) available in the market, be sure to pick one up and make this stuff. Sooooo goood.
Butternut Squash Soup
This recipe came from my friend Erin (
hollah!), who makes really good food (7 layer bars anyone? yum!). Since her blog is private and I can't send everyone over there to experience the awesomeness of this soup. I am posting it here, too. She rewrote the recipe so it would be easier to follow. The ingredients are grouped by what goes together so there are quiet a few spots where you use differing amounts of chicken stock and things like that. It is delicious, makes a lot of soup, and is totally worth the time it takes to prepare. The steps might seem tedious, but just do it. This is soup to perfection. If you mess with perfect, you are a dummy.
Plan on 2 hrs from start to finish for this recipe. Start with the squash, because it takes an hour to roast, and then do everything else about an hour before you plan to eat. The wild rice takes about 45 min to 1 hr to really be good. This is great fresh, but also excellent the next day as leftovers. And you will want the leftovers, baby.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 T olive oil (or two pats of buttah baby!)
salt
black pepper
2 c chicken stock
4 c chicken stock
½ c chopped onions
1 c wild rice
1 T olive oil
¾ lb turkey sausage (I just use pork sausage, because I always have a tube of it in the freezer...it has a little more fat in it, but it tastes sooooo good. I don't use oil to brown it though..it does fine without any added fat...which I like to think makes up for the extra butter on the squash)
2 c chopped onions
salt and pepper
6 c chicken stock
2 c frozen corn
1 ½ c half and half
optional: diced red pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Slice squash in half, remove seeds and season with 1 T olive oil (cough BUTTER cough), salt, and pepper. ( I never add salt and pepper, there is enough in the soup...and you KNOW I love salt, so there really IS enough).
Place on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hr. Remove from oven and cool completely.
3. Peel and seed squash. In a blender puree squash and 2 c chicken stock. Puree until smooth and set aside.
4. In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring 4 c stock and ½ c chopped onions to a simmer.
5. Stir in rice and cook for 15 min, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
6. In a BIG soup pot, over medium heat, add 1 T oil. Heat oil up and then add sausage and brown for 3 min.
7. Add 2 c onion and season with salt and pepper. Sautee for 3 min.
8. Add 6 c chicken stock and squash puree. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 min. Skim off any fat that rises to surface.
9. Stir in rice and corn and continue to cook for 10 more min.
10. Remove from heat and stir in half and half and season with salt and pepper.
Is that just the happiest look you've ever seen?! Darling. 
Reese took a little longer to warm up to the tiny, noisy, pooping, creatures that move and wiggle unpredictably. 
Reese is such a natural caregiver and loves animals. She even says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. 
Not only does Charlie love his mini horse like a baby, he's quite proud of the monster truck he is building in his garage, the property he left behind on the Boise Bench overlooking Ann Morrison park (small world), his crazy wild barking dogs, and the vacation home he just bought on a beach in Texas.
