Easy Make ahead Butternut squash soup with sage

This is loosely based on a wonderful recipe I discovered on Epicurious.com many, many years ago.
Expectations:

This recipe takes about 35 – 50 minutes total time, depending on how quickly you chop.  It’s a wonderful soup, easy to make and one of my standby’s for the holidays and throughout the year.  It’s 6 – 8 servings, depending on how many soup eaters you have.

It keeps well for 2 or 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• About (half of a large) butternut squash (i.e. 1 1/2 pounds) cut into large chunks
• 5 garlic cloves minced or cut small
• 1 large (about 8 oz) russet or other cooking potato
• 1 large carrot
• Optional: 1 medium onion
• Optional:  1 dried or fresh whole hot pepper (i.e. habanero, jalapeño, arbol)
• 8 cups (16 oz) of chicken stock
• Optional:  2 large sage leaves

Chopped butternut squash, russet potatoes, garlic & carrots

Steps to put this on your table:

1. In a large stockpot, heat about 2 tbsp. of olive oil (or other vegetable oil) until it’s hot.
2. Add all of the vegetables (except the sage leaves if using) and sauté over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent the garlic from burning, until the garlic and onions are softened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

3.  Add the chicken stock and hot pepper (if using).  Bring the mixture up to a boil for about 1 minute and then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until all of the vegetables are soft (about 25 to 30 minutes).

4.  Discard the hot pepper (if you used one), add the sage leaves (if using) and prepare to blend the soup.  The soup    will be very hot at this point, so you have to be careful.

Using an immersion blender:  I have an immersion blender (a wonderful gift from my sister) and if using, you will only need to move the pan to the counter and carefully blend until the vegetables are pureed.

Using a food processor:  Pre-immersion blender, I used my food processor for this.  Transfer the soup into a bowl and let it cool down slightly.  Pour batches (about 1/2 full) into the food processor to puree and put the ‘finished’ batches back into the pan.  If needed, rewarm the soup before serving.

Enjoy!!!

This makes enough to serve my family two times.

Please let me know if you’ve given this a try or if you have questions in the comments.    Also, would love for you to join the mailing list if you’d like updates.