Recipe Review: Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup

My finger is on the mend, but don't think S has heard his share of complaints on that subject yet. I almost lost a finger. Almost is a very vague word. 

Today I have a great Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup recipe from Cooking Light for you. This soup was quick (in a sense), cost effective, full of fresh flavor, and really easy. Secret best friends club promise. 

Once upon a time we had a butternut squash. I can't remember what it's original purpose was, but there it was on my counter. So S thought, "let's probably cook it before it goes bad." He is the CFO of the family. He took an inventory of the ingredients we had around the house and I got an email the next day that said "please buy four shallots and some ginger." Done. 

Cooking Light professional photo for your viewing pleasure.

 First things first. Preheat the oven to 375. Then we peeled, chopped, and deseeded the butternut squash. 

Slices

Chunks

 Next we peeled a section of the ginger and cut it into think slices.

Then we peeled the shallots and cut them in halves.

 Finally we combined everything in a baking dish with salt, pepper, and EV Olive Oil. Did I already say this was easy? It is. Put them in the oven for 45 minutes, then allow them to cool for ten minutes. Now this recipe seemed fast to me because the actual active cooking time is minimal. Baking in the oven time is more "watch Revenge on the DVR for the third time" time.

The final magical ingredients include: Chicken Stock, Sour Cream, & Pepper. The Sour Cream is a personal touch. We skipped the chives in the original recipe. Mainly because no one told me we needed chives... hmmmmm. That no one sure is funny about ingredients. If anyone ever asks you why you should buy an entire bundle of chives (or green onions, or saffron threads, etc) for just a few bowls of soup, just tell them: because it's a recipe and that's how you follow it. And also because I said so.

The roast pan came out of the oven looking full of deliciousness. 

Our blender kind of started creating chemical smoke last time I was trying to make a big vat of green jalapeno cilantro dip. I don't like things that make smoke and smell like chemicals. So instead of following the recipe's original technique, we simply put the broth and the veggies straight into a stock pot and mixed it with a hand blender. HAND BLENDER LOVERS UNITE. If I can find a way to use my hand blender, it is going to be used. 

Step 1 old friend

After blending the ingredients you put them on the stove over medium heat for 5 minutes to warm everything evenly. Then you are good to go. 

We were kind of concerned that this soup would be missing the creaminess that we were craving, but it was completely creamy and very velvety. See what I did there?

I felt like it would be a nice compliment to add a dolup of sour cream (or creme fraiche if you have that) on top with the cracked pepper. I was right. It was a wonderful compliment to the flavor of the soup. We ate it with some crusty whole grain baguettes.

While my photo is less impressive, it was more delicious. According to me.

This was a nice light soup that had all of the make ups of a soup laced with cream and fat and cream. The flavor of the ginger really comes through and give you a wonderful experience with the soft texture and the aromas. I'm getting serious about this. The bread helped to make it a little more hearty for dinner, but it would be a wonderful soup to have around for any meal, first or second course, or snack. It would also make a great early baby food or in our case a late one. Landon really loved it.

If anyone makes it with chives, let me know how that goes. For now I'll stick with the sour cream or greek yogurt. 

-RT

Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup
from Cooking Light Magazine


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup soup and 1 teaspoon chives)

Ingredients:
4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large shallots, peeled and halved
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons (1-inch) slices fresh chives
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Place half of squash mixture and half of broth in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with chives and pepper, if desired.