December 10, 2009

Butternut Squash Soup -- A Classic holiday dish

We love butternut squash - roasted, made as a simple side dish with mustard and garlic, or as a soup. Until recently we were reluctant to use this vegetable more often as it involved a lot of time and effort to prep it for cooking. But we recently discovered that it is available diced and ready to cook in small plastic bags in select grocery stores. Also, Amazon (and many others) carries cans of pureed organic butternut squash that can be used for soups, stews etc. Thus, butternut squash in our house has become an all year round vegetable.

Ingredient:

1 can butternut squash puree
1 big carrot diced
1 large sweet onion diced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 can low sodium chicken broth
5 cloves garlic diced
3 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
salt and pepper from the mill

Method:
Heat a non-stick pan. Melt butter. Add olive oil. Add onions,carrots and garlic. Let them sweat for 10 mins. Add the butternut squash puree and chicken stock. Add salt and sage (2 tbsp).Cover lid and simmer for 15-18 mins. Let it cool. Blend the mixture using a blender or a food processor. Add fresh pepper from the mill. Mix well. Garnish with sage. Enjoy it with a Crostini on the side.

For the crostini: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sage. Sprinkle the cheese on top and season with salt, to taste. Bake until the cheese has melted and the bread is light golden, about 6 to 8 minutes.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cheese crostini.

Enjoy!

Courtesy: Giada & Food Network.com

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