Liquid Autumn.

Warming, vaguely sweet, easy and delicious. My butternut squash cost me £1 and I have a saucepan full of soup that will freeze well, so I should have added economical to its list of attributes.

I love this pretty colour.

Peel, remove the seeds and chop up your butternut squash. Mine weighed 1 kg.

Peel and chop an onion, then put a drizzle of oil and about 1oz salted butter in a large saucepan. Heat to melt the butter, then add the onion and saute until translucent.

Add the butternut squash to the onion and continue to cook, stirring now and again for about 10 mins. It starts to blur at the edges and gets a ‘butternut squash being fried’ smell when it’s ready.

If your squash weighs less than mine did, reduce the stock you will add – you don’t want it watery. But if we’re in the same kind of weight range, add 1 litre of chicken stock, put on the lid and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 mins.

If you’re particular about the thickness of your soup, add less stock to begin with because you can always add more to water the consistency down after you’ve liquidised it.

It’s ready when tender and can be mashed against the side of the saucepan.

If you want to live on the edge, cautiously stick your hand (stick) blender in and blitz it. If you are more sensible, you might like to let it cool down.

Silky, velvety smooth

Maybe a grind of black pepper, maybe even a drizzle of cream, but how ever you look at it, it’s Autumn in a bowl.

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Butternut Squash Soup

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1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chunked
1 onion, chopped
drizzle oil
1 oz salted butter
1 litre chicken stock

Melt the oil and butter in a large saucepan.
Saute the onion until translucent.
Add the butternut squash and cook for a further 5-10 mins until it’s softening at the edges and you can smell squash, not just onion.
Cover with a lid, add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 mins or until the squash is tender and can be mashed.

Cool and liquidise – I use a hand (stick) blender.
Serve with a grind of black pepper and maybe a drizzle of cream.

Freezes well.

2 Responses to “Butternut Squash Soup”

1. Kitchen Butterfly says:

   20 October, 2009 at 8:33 pm

   Yummy….the reason for fall is delicious, heartwarming soups like this, taking the edge of chilly nights and frost bite
2. Anna says:

   21 October, 2009 at 10:24 am

   Absolutely! Every Autumn I wonder why I don’t make more soups, so this will be the year of the soup!