Butternut Squash Soup

It's nearly Halloween and temperatures have dropped this week. All over the country there are jack-o-lanterns being blanketed by snow. I can't seem to get enough of fall. I officially have a favorite season. Boots, scarves, changing leaves, red wine and soup are some of the things fall brings for me to enjoy.

Tonight I made some Butternut Squash Soup. I've had it many times in restaurants, but I have never made it myself. I knew I had a big container of pre-cut squash in the fridge I had to use, so I started browsing the web for recipes. BTW, I always buy the pre-cut butternut squash. I simply loathe having to deal with those suckers. Trying to peel and chop a raw one is like taking bananas from a monkey, not to mention the "glue" that is left on your hands. After looking at few different recipes I was able to put something together based on what I had here. I ended up with a soup that was flavorful and the perfect consistency.

Ingredients:

1 (32oz) box of pre-cut Butternut squash

1/2 large sweet onion or 1 small sweet onion

1 small Granny Smith apple

1 can chicken broth

1/4 block of lowfat cream cheese (optional)

2 cloves roughly crushed garlic, peeled

2 tbs. butter

Cardamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper

2 tbs. EVOO

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a glass baking dish toss your two cloves of garlic and squash with EVOO and salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, over medium-low heat, melt butter in a soup pot. Peel and dice your onion and add to butter. Peel, core, and dice your apple, add to butter and onions. Add a sprinkle of nutmeg and cardamon. Cook, stirring occasionally until the squash is almost ready. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove squash from oven and allow to cool slightly. If your blender can't handle heat, cool veggies completely.

Add squash, and apple and onion mixture to blender. Add your one can of stock. Puree until smooth.

Return to soup pot. Add cream cheese if desired and cook over medium heat until cheese melts and soup slightly boils. Taste and add more spices if necessary.

This serves 4-6 small bowls.