Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe, or perhaps a combination of, is being shared by Joe, who makes great dinners, and I make great breads and desserts. He looks up, for instance, recipes for butternut squash soup, and takes a little of this and that from each. He made this for dinner, which was both delicious and nutritious and I made pumpkin yeast bread to go with it. All I could have added was some dollar store fall leaves for decoration!!

This is what he gave me to put in, with alternatives at the bottom.

INGREDIENTS:

1 med Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed, cleared of seeds

1 med sweet onion, chopped

1 celery stalk

1 carrot, chopped

2 med potatoes, cubed

2ea 14 oz cans chicken broth

Butter/olive oil

Spices: Thyme, Nutmeg, Rosemary, Cumin, Ginger

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large, heavy stock pot, sauté onion, celery and carrot in oil/butter until tender. Add cubed potatoes, squash* and chicken broth.

Add spices as desired. A little of each goes a long way (start with ¼ teaspoon of each ) Emphasize the thyme, (about ½ teaspoon) if anything. Simmer until squash and potatoes are soft.

Blend all. A" stick" or hand held blender makes it easy as you can do all in the pan. Add more liquid if needed but it should be the consistency of a fairly thick soup.

Simmer to blend flavors. Freezes well.

Optional*-Use roasted squash. In a 400 degree oven, roast squash cubes drizzled with olive oil until they are soft. Add to the mixture when the potatoes are getting soft.

Optional*-alternate spices: curry, cayenne, chili powder, sage, Italian seasoning, maple syrup. You might consider keeping the thyme, no matter.

If you are one who needs absolutes, then you might Google some of the recipes to see the quantities. Some, like Joe and Becky, taste as they go. Which is why I'm better at baking!! They tell you how much of what to use.

Optional*-add chopped apple

ENJOY!! I will share the pumpkin yeast bread next week.