October is here! It really snuck up on me this year...I couldn't believe that it was October 1st on Saturday! Wow. So in honor of it being October, which also makes it Fall, I am going to p
ost a recipe that Jonny and I made on Friday night. It is an adaptation of Emeril Lagasse's
recipe. It is called Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Soup (I know...I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the sausage part, but it made the soup so flavorful! Give it a shot ;) I'm sure you'll like it too. And if you aren't brave enough quite yet-then just take out the sausage part of this recipe!) It was VERY tasty! I even had some leftovers today for lunch. YUM!
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, cut in half with the seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage (removed from their casings)
- 1 large onion, chopped (I used yellow, but white would be fine too)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus 12 whole leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
- 6 cups light chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (adjust to taste/consistency you like)
- 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Get a cooking sheet out and cover it with parchment paper (makes squash not stick and clean-up a breeze!)
Take your seeded squash halves and coat them with half of the vegetable oil. Lightly salt and pepper the flesh side and place them face down on your cooking sheet. Bake the squash approx. 45 minutes, or until fork tender. When finished cooking let cool, then scoop out the inside and put into bowl.
In a large pot add the remaining 1 tsp. of vegetable oil and add the sausage. Cook approx. 4 minutes (or until golden brown). Add the onions and cook until translucent. Once the onions are cooked add the garlic, chopped sage (not the 12 whole leaves), and marjoram. Stir these in, then add the squash and chicken stock. Stir until well combined. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer approx 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In this next step you can use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup-but Jon and I scooped up batches (about 3) and blended each batch in the blender then transferred the puree into a different pot. It probably ended up being about the same timing it would take for a handheld blender...just more dishes dirtied :)
**The original recipe then calls for you to strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer but we skipped this step. I really don't think it needed to be strained at all...it was really smooth. Unless you are going to be judged with this soup, I say omit this step :) **
Then add the cider vinegar (we used red wine vinegar...it's all we had and it is such a small amount that you can't really tell the difference) Then add the cream. Adjust seasoning to your taste...and there you have it. A yummy fall dish!
*Serves 4-6
**I almost didn't do the last step to this recipe...but I had already picked the 12 sage leaves off their stems and didn't want to waste them. And I am SO glad I did it! It adds a little extra something to the soup. Here it is...take it or leave it as you please...but I vote take it!
In a small pan cook the butter over medium-high heat until it begins to turn brown around the edges. Add the whole sage leaves and cook until crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the leaves to paper towels to drain. Then when you serve the soup garnish each bowl with the leaves! They are actually quite tasty :)
Happy Fall!
