Winter Squash Soup

Winter squash soup is one of our favorite dishes to make in fall and winter. You can cook it up in a crock pot or in a soup pot on the stove. I like the crock pot because I can walk away & let it cook and it won't burn. If you don't have a crock pot, you can almost always find them at thrift stores for $5 to $10.

Ingredients for winter squash soup:

1. 1 large or 2 medium-sized winter squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, hubbard, turban, pumpkin, etc.)
2. 1 medium to large onion (any color)
3. A few stalks of celery, with leaves
4. 2 medium carrots
5. 1 medium-sized apple
6. 2 to 4 cloves of garlic
7. Seasonings that work well include: salt, pepper, bouillon, sage, rosemary, paprika, cayenne, chipotle, grated ginger, curry powder

Optional ingredients:

1. Hearty mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms, chicken of the woods, wine caps or portobellos
2. Jalapeno or other hot pepper
3. Corn
4. Water chestnuts, chopped
5. Coconut milk / cream

Directions

1. Clean outside of squash and cut it in half length-wise if long, or horizontally through the middle if round. Scrape out the pulp and seeds, and save the seeds for roasting.
2. Put squash cut side down in a baking pan and add a layer of water to the pan. Bake squash at 375 °F (190 °C) until soft (25-45 minutes depending on the squash). Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle (or use a potholder). Add more water to the pan as needed during cooking.
3. Scrape cooked squash (flesh and skin) into crock pot or soup pot. Add 4 to 6 cups of hot water (or stock), and bouillon if using.
4. Using an immersion blender, blend squash until smooth.
5. Set crock pot to "high," or soup pot to medium+.
6. Chop up onions, carrots, garlic, celery, apple, mushrooms and peppers (if using) and add to pot. For extra rich flavor, saute the veggies & mushrooms first in butter or ghee. If you're using dried mushrooms, cover them with just-boiled water and let sit (covered) for 10-15 minutes. Then add mushrooms and the water they soaked in to the pot.
7. Add herbs and spices. Add more hot water if soup is too thick.
8. Leave to cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
9. Serve soup with roasted squash / pumpkin seeds as a garnish. Other nice garnishes include scallions, tortilla strips, cilantro, goat cheese… check your pantry and use your imagination!