September 17, 2020

Squash Soup

There are a few recipes that are usually fast and easy. However, a pandemic and a few shortages of ingredients have made these recipes a bit more complicated for me. Squash soup is one of these.

Because the weather is getting cooler earlier this year, I have been craving squash soup. Evidently, everyone else has been too because I can’t get a can of pureed squash or pumpkin anywhere. I remembered when I lived in Texas that I couldn’t get squash in a can so I roasted a butternut squash and pureed it in my food processor. It wasn’t too hard for my presymptomatic MS self. It was a bit harder this time.

I ordered butternut squash and a sugar pumpkin from my farm store and roasted both. Cutting them in half to roast them was so exhausting that I didn’t have the energy to scrape the flesh out when they finished roasting. I guilted my husband into doing this part although he probably would have helped me anyway. The words “It’s for the pumpkin pie you love for Thanksgiving!” may have come out of my mouth. The pumpkin puree is in the freezer but the squash puree is in the fridge staring at me, willing me to make it into squash soup.

Personally, I prefer a squash soup without the warm and sweet spices that are in a lot of recipes so I don’t add any. If you want, by all means put a little cinnamon and ginger powder in. I’m not worried about tonight’s dinner because this is a super easy recipe now that I have the squash puree. With this in mind, I would absolutely recommend using canned squash over making the soup from an actual squash. It’s so much easier. I don’t really know what I was thinking.

Print Recipe

Squash Soup

A warm and hearty squash soup

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Soup, Squash

Servings: 4

Equipment

Immersion Blender

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Butter
1 cup Onion chopped
2 cloves Garlic minced
3 cups Squash puree
2 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Light Cream or Half and Half
1/2-1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1-2 teaspoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoons White or Black Pepper (I prefer white pepper in this)

Instructions

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Saute onion until soft and translucent about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute more. Don't let the garlic brown.
Add squash and chicken broth. Bring to simmer. Use an immersion blender to make puree smooth. Add cream and salt. Taste and add sugar only if needed.

Modifications

I used my food processor to chop onions and a garlic press for the minced garlic.

If you don’t have an immersion blender it would work to transfer the soup to a blender. Just make sure to vent it so the pressure doesn’t blow the lid off. I know transferring it back and forth and would be too hard for me. I make sure to chop the onion in the food processor into very small pieces, almost minced. If you don’t feel up to blending it, don’t. It will be fine with little bits of onions in it.

The most important thing is to use canned squash if you can. Most canned squash is a very good product. Baking and pureeing your own squash is exhausting.