Butternut Squash Soup

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I recently read that soup eaters tend to be thinner. The idea behind that is those who eat soup before a meal, typically will consume smaller portion of the main course. Now, of course that probably wouldn't be true if we always ate fat filled soups like broccoli cheddar and other cream based soups. In order for this approach to be effective, you'd want to stick to lower calorie, healthy soups. Below is a recipe for Butternut Squash soup. This warm, velvety soup is sure to impress. I've been making this soup for years, it is great before a meal, with a grilled cheese sandwich, or topped with some mascarpone or cream cheese.

1 large butternut squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and diced 

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 cinnamon stick

salt, preferably kosher, to taste

freshly ground black pepper

4 cups chicken stock or broth (can easily sub vegetable stock to make this vegetarian)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

1/2 cup non fat or low fat milk, optional

 

 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut squash lengthwise and place face down on baking sheet. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside. Preheat a large pot. Add olive oil, onions, celery and carrot to pot. Sauté on medium for 7-8 minutes until carrots are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next add 4 cups of chicken stock, all spices/herbs and milk. Let come to a boil. Next scoop out the squash from the rind and add to the soup. Use and immersion blender to blend the soup together until it is thick and creamy. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Make sure not to fill to the top when blending and ensure to hold the lid tightly when blending. Blending hot ingredients in blender cause the ingredients to overflow and leak out of the blender if you don't follow the steps above. Hot soup flying everywhere is messy and dangerous.

Makes approximately 8 cups.