Butternut Squash Soup

I was originally going to title this blog Butternut Squash Bisque, but when I started researching the dish I found that bisque is not quite what I thought it was.  A true French bisque is made from the stock of crustaceans like lobster, crab, shrimp and other crustacea like creatures.  Now days anything pureed and made with cream is called a bisque.  Wow, I'm starting to sound like Alton Brown.  I really enjoy researching the history of food. I think it is really important to know the true origins of a dish especially if you plan on being a great chef.  So what if I am starting to sound like a huge nerd, I'm okay with it.  

Squash is one of those ingredients that I think most people forget they can use or are even afraid to use. After all, it's not the easiest vegetable in the garden to work with.  Butternut squash soup is one of those dishes that I believe people really like, but are afraid they can't make.  If you think this is a difficult dish to make, it's not. It's actually pretty simple.  There's not too many different variations in all of the recipes I looked at.  I wanted to make my recipe stand out so I focused on the creamy aspect of the soup.  I wanted my soup to be as creamy and silky as I could get it with out making it too thick or take away from the consistency of the soup.  I decided to go with cream cheese which gave the dish the texture and creaminess that I wanted, and also a little cream cheese tang which added to the overall goodness of the dish.  I like to eat my butternut squash soup with a little more cream and nutmeg than what I put in the pot.  Nutmeg gives a great sweetness that works really well with the savoriness of the squash and the sweetness of the cream.  My recipe is enough to feed about 8 to 10 people.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup:

2 medium butternut squash peeled and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp butter

1 c diced sweet onion

1 1/2 c diced carrots

4 c vegetable stock

2 cups water

Kosher sea salt to taste

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Fresh grated nutmeg to taste 

1 c heavy cream

4 oz cream cheese

-Start with the oil, butter and onions in a large stock pot.  Cook on medium heat until tender.  Add squash, carrots, vegetable stock, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Cook on medium high heat until squash is tender and turns from orange to yellow.  Puree soup in blender and pour back in to stock pot.  Turn heat down to low medium and whisk in heavy cream and cream cheese.  

Serve with some cream and a dash of nutmeg.

Don't be afraid of this recipe, it's really easy and delicious.  Squash takes longer to cook than you would think, but the time invested is well worth it.  It's December and it's cold outside.  Make some soup to warm yourself up.  I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.