It’s the first of September and that means I will be in full squash and pumpkin mode for the next 3 months, if not longer. (I seriously would eat pumpkin year – round, if it were available!) One of my favorite things to eat on a cool, brisk night is butternut squash soup, though the thought of peeling a butternut squash and cooking it down used to detour me from making it as often as I’d like.
Until I found a solution: baby food purees. Trust me. This isn’t just for babies, and when I figured that out, my world changed. (I now add carrot puree to my spaghetti sauce, and my older children are getting those extra vegetables without even tasting or seeing a difference!)
But back to the soup: By cutting out the process of having to cook down the squash when you use baby purees, in less than thirty minutes you can have a butternut squash soup that could be served in a 5 star restaurant.
Butternut Squash Soup Made With Baby Food
Ingredients:
4 or 5 containers of butternut squash baby food
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup of cream, 1/2 cup of milk)
salt and pepper to taste
Grated nutmeg or other seasoning for garnish (optional)
Directions:
1. In a medium pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes or until golden.
2. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add the squash and vegetable broth.
3. Cover your pot and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add milk and/or cream. Stir and taste, adding salt and pepper, if necessary. Cook for 10 more minutes.
5. Serve and top with garnish, if desired.