Roasted Butternut Squash Soup!

Almost Thanksgiving!!!  

Sadly, I have never been a fan of Thanksgiving - I think it is my least favorite holiday - I know, I know... you're probably thinking, "Wait, WHAT?  He has a food blog... Thanksgiving IS the food holiday... what gives?"  Well, there was actually a year when my mom made chicken parmesan in addition to turkey, etc... it was amazing!  But as I grow older, I'm finding I really enjoy the fall flavors in new ways!  

(Inspiration from Ina Garten's butternut squash soup recipe)

So you will need:

1 good size butternut squash

1 large vidalia onion

2 macintosh apples

2 boxes of unsalted chicken stock

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp butter

1-2 tbsp olive oil

a few sprigs of thyme

 First peel the squash...

 I like the cut just above the base area - where it starts to round out...

 Then cut these two sections in half.... so we have four parts.  You will notice the bottom, more roundish part has the seeds.

 Use a spoon to scrape and discard the seeds.

 Cut the squash into small, one inch chunks.  Do the same with onion and apples (peel and core the apple).  Then give it all a good toss with some olive oil.

 Divide it all between two baking sheets.  You want a single layer.

 Roast everything for about 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees.  Half way through, I gave everything a good toss and switched the top pan to the lower rack and lower to higher...

 In a large pot, warm up one box of chicken stock.  I added some salt and pepper along with the curry powder and butter.  Add the contents of one baking sheet to the hot stock.  Use an immersion blender to puree it all together (Or use a food mill or food processor in batches).

 Once the first pan of squash/onion/apple has been broken down, add the second pan and do the same.  You may need to add more of the second chicken stock box to keep it from getting too thick!

 buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....  don't splatter!

 Yummy!  Love that color!  You will probably need to add most of that second stock box to thin it all out.

 I took 3 sprigs of thyme, used cooking twine to tie it all together, and just let it simmer away covered.

 Now I wanted to add something to make this a bit more substantial for dinner.  This would be amazing as a first course though.  So it was between shrimp or some type of stuffed pasta...  You see which direction I went!  Once I saw pumpkin ravioli - I was done.  So I boiled those for about 3-4 minutes (since it was fresh pasta!) and added them to the top of the soup - delicious.  

Now as Thursday approaches, I'm looking forward to the herb turkey, roasted potatoes, veggies, and most of all, the apple pie.  Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Don't forget what it is all about as well...

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