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See also: Autumn's Ambassadors by Mark R. Vogel
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
One two-pound butternut squash, peeled and chopped into medium dice
Two tablespoons sugar
Five tablespoons butter
One small onion, chopped
One quart water
One cinnamon stick
Two ounces heavy cream
Salt & white pepper to taste
In a soup pot sweat the squash, sugar, and some salt in the butter, covered, for three minutes.
Remember sweating, as opposed to sautéing, means low heat. We do not want to brown the butter or the squash, just soften it.
Add onion and sweat ten minutes more.
Add water and the cinnamon stick and simmer, covered, for thirty minutes.
Remove cinnamon and puree soup in a blender for at least one minute.
Then pass through a fine mesh chinois or strainer.
Finish with cream, salt and white pepper to taste.
A final option is to sprinkle some nutmeg on it just before service.
Some recipes instruct you to roast the squash first in the oven. I’ve tried it both ways and found that the roasted squash, (which inevitably browns to some degree), produces a darker, unappealing colored soup. Sweating and simmering the squash renders a soup with a more vibrant hue.
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