Roasted butternut squash soup with apples and bacon
This recipe comes from Mark Bittman of the New York Times. It's the best soup I've ever had. I strongly suggest making/buying some fresh bread (we had thick-sliced asiago cheese bread from panera) to go with it.
- 1 butternut squash, about 1 1/2 pounds, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 4 bacon slices, or one 1/2-inch-thick strip slab bacon, chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- Salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or water
- 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water
Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spread the squash, onion, apples, bacon and garlic in a deep roasting pan or on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the oil.
Roast,
stirring every now and then, until the squash, onion and apples are
tender and browned and the bacon is crisp, which takes about 45
minutes.
Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
Stir in the sage and white wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom.
If
you're using a roasting pan that can be used on the stovetop, position
the pan over 2 burners and put both on medium heat. Otherwise,
transfer the contents of the pan to a large pot or Dutch oven and set it
over medium heat.
Add
the stock and cook until the squash, onion and apples break apart and
thicken and flavor the broth, which takes about 25 minutes. You can
help the process along by breaking the mixture up a bit with a spoon.
