Winter has hit our area with the first snow (followed by icy rain and skating rink roads). As I wondered what to make for dinner yesterday, I noticed the last butternut squash reclining on the bench. Hmmm.

Back in the day (pre-RV life) I used to purchase tons of squash-type produce and decorate the house. Then we would eat our way through the decor. Now, with space at a premium, that practice has halted. But. That butternut sat there looking at me. “Me, me! Pick me!” my over-active imagination called out.

Bundled up from the cold, I realized I had everything I needed to make butternut squash soup. Yay! It was a soup and salad kind of night.

Here is the recipe. Or, I should say, the list of ingredients I included. I did not follow a recipe per say, but I’ve made butternut squash soup in the past, and I always read the ingredients on interesting recipes when I peruse cooking magazines. Also. I did not measure much. Maybe not at all. It was all by look, feel, and experimentation.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 sweet potato (red garnet is my favorite), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, diced

1 tablespoon butter

olive oil

about 2 cups of chicken stock

dried sage (or fresh, which I have but I didn’t want to go out to harvest it), crumbled (lots)

black pepper

cayenne pepper

half and half

1. Melt butter and a few swirls of olive oil in a medium heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add onions and cook for a few minutes.

2. Add butternut squash and sweet potato to onions. Add the chicken stock, enough to nearly cover the squash and potato. I wanted this thick, so I relied more on the boiling liquid and steam to cook the ingredients. Add pepper and sage. I wish I had thought about garlic, which would been delicious, but I didn’t think about it until we were eating the soup.

3. Cover and cook until the squash and potato are soft, between 30-45 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Once everything is soft, remove from heat. I used an immersion blender to blend it all together, but a potato masher might work as well. Add a few swirls of half and half, stir, and serve hot.

This was SO tasty and it hit the spot. I’m already dreaming of soup leftovers for lunch today. It turned out nice and thick.

Some other options I considered as we enjoyed the soup: garlic (added at the onion stage), topped with crispy bacon, topped with garlic pepitas, or topped with homemade garlic croutons.

Cheers for soup season! What is your favorite soup?