So, many of my recipes that I post I am thinking about my Grandmother. I think about what she would think about the dish, about the taste, would she be proud to serve it in her restaurant?
I have never made squash soup or pumpkin soup,so this was a first. I studied a few recipes I found online and then I combined what I thought were the best parts of each recipe.
I liked the idea of using heavy cream and sour cream. The recipes I found used more heavy cream or sour cream than what I used but I figured if I'm using both I need to cut back a bit on both.
This soup came out surprisingly great! I could hardly believe it. Usually, when experimenting with a recipe, I would make the dish and then decide if I liked it enough to make it again. If I am going to make it again I decide how I'm going to tweak the recipe to get it as delicious as possible.
This one, there was no doubt, I will make it again and as far as tweaking. It's done. Yum.
This is an addition that I am doing now that I have an Instant Pot.
One of the hardest parts of the recipe is preparing the squash. I am now cooking the squash, carrots, and leeks in the Instant Pot.
First I wash and cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and then cut each half in half short side and add to the Instant Pot.
Clean the carrots, leeks and 1 cup of chicken broth to the pot.
Cover and cook on high for 40 minutes. It can be less if you cut the squash into smaller pieces.
Once everything is cooked in the Instant pot, I let it cool enough to scoop out the squash from the skin and all of it goes into a stock pot where I blend it until smooth and then add any remaining chicken stock, butter and sherry. I then warm the ingredients up to steamy but not boiling.
Then resume the recipe at step 5.
Creamy and Rich Butternut Squash Soup
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
- Medium to large saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Carrots, chopped
- 1 or 2 Cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium Onion finely, chopped or about 1 cup finely chopped leek
- 1 2 to 4 pound Butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground Nutmeg (optional)
- 2 to 3 cups Chicken broth For vegetarian use Vegetable stock
- 3 Tablespoons Dry sherry plus more for garnish
- 6 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 to 1 cup Heavy Cream plus more for garnish
- 4 ounces Sour cream
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium stockpot or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, carrots and garlic, sweat, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
- Add the sherry to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until reduced slightly, then add enough stock to just cover the vegetables. If 3 cups isn't sufficient, make up the difference with water.
- Turn the heat up and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to simmer, and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
- Add heavy cream, half the parmesan and sour cream blend until well incorporated using the immersion blender.
- Transfer back to sauce pan and return to heat, add bacon and parmesan cheese reserving some for garnish. Add more chicken broth if necessary to reach desired consistence. Heat to desired temperature.
- Ladle into bowls and drizzle with sherry, cream and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.