Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash (medium size)(make sure you read to the very bottom for alternatives)
3 tablespoons butter*
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 cups chicken (or Vegetable) broth
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) Pink Himalayan salt
Fresh ground pepper, to taste (I used about ¼ – ½ teaspoon)
Optional: cheese to sprinkle on top of the hot soup. Parm or a hard Goat Cheese are excellent choices!

Bake the squash in its skin. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle a little salt on the flesh part of each half and place face-down on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a fork pierces the flesh easily. Let the squash cool mostly.
In your large soup pan, melt the butter.
Over a medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in the butter.
Add about half of the baked squash, half of the mixture from the pan and about a cup of broth into your food processor. Process until smooth.
Do the same thing with the other half of the mixtures and another cup of broth. You may want to add more broth if your soup is thicker than you prefer or doesn’t process as smooth as you’d like.
Return the soup to the large pan. Add salt and pepper and heat through. You can serve immediately topped with a bit of cheese (or by itself). This soup is also amazing after sitting a day in the fridge or even frozen for a later date.

You can also add a bit of heavy cream to the bowl when serving for extra richness.
A hand blender will be a bit tricky, but works well too.. so don’t let the food processor stop you from this great recipe!!
So at the very top we said get a squash, right? Well one of the Broads has informed us not everyone likes tackling a whole squash (ok and wasn’t even sure what one might look like there are so many to choose from) and is so savvy in the kitchen as to be able to “scoop the seeds” and all that. So guess what you can simply buy some pre cut squash! Either in the produce department or in the frozen food section. 2-3 bags depending on the size. Simply dump them out on your baking sheet and voila!