Last weekend I roasted a butternut squash with no real plans but who needs them? Roasted butternut squash is liquid gold! I can enjoy it simply pureed with a pinch of salt. It really doesn't need much more than that!
Of course I'm the only one in the house with that opinion. Not one of the boys will touch pureed squash. The 9-Year-Old will eat it in fry form and the 3-Year-Old can be coaxed to take a bite but has no real desire for it.
I think they are all nuts!
So I decided to make a pot of soup just for me to enjoy all week with my lunches.
Most squash soup recipes I see call for heavy cream, and I'm just not a fan. Nothing against the stuff, I just don't like it very much but I know that little bit of added fat really helps bring the soup together. So I decided to use a different source of fat. Quite possibly my favorite form of fat -- BACON -- and see how it could flavor a bowl of squash soup.
The result was delicious! I added lots of black pepper to offset the sweetness of the squash, and browning the bacon and onion gave this soup a really deep flavor. It was unlike any other butternut soup I've had!
Here's what I did...
Ingredients
- 2 slices of uncooked bacon
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth (I used homemade)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (you may want to skip or reduce this if using store-bought broth)
- About 1 ½ cups roasted butternut squash (~470g)
Instructions
Cook the bacon and onion in a saucepan with a pinch of kosher salt over medium-high heat until the onion softens. There should be lots of brown bits on the bottom of the pot. I brought mine to the brink of burnt and then deglazed it by adding the chicken broth.
(All "deglaze" means is getting those brown bits off the bottom with a liquid.)
Stir in the nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Bring it to a boil and stir in the flesh of the roasted butternut squash.
It will incorporate right in.
Bring it back up to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Puree using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender.
That's it!
The first time I enjoyed it with some pumpkin seeds (I would have used the squash seeds, but The 9-Year-Old devoured them) and bacon bits.
The second time I enjoyed it with some leftover chicken for a protein boost.
The rest is in my fridge and I'm already dreaming of my next bowl.
📖 Recipe
Peppery Roasted Butternut Squash Soup With Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 slices of uncooked bacon
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth I used homemade
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt you may want to skip or reduce this if using store-bought broth
- About 1 ½ cups roasted butternut squash ~470g
Instructions
- Cook the bacon and onion in a saucepan with a pinch of kosher salt over medium-high heat until the onion softens. There should be lots of brown bits on the bottom of the pot. I brought mine to the brink of burnt and then deglazed it by adding the chicken broth.2 slices of uncooked bacon, 1 medium onion, 4 cups chicken broth
- Stir in the nutmeg, pepper and salt.½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Bring it to a boil and stir in the flesh of the roasted butternut squash. It will incorporate right in.About 1 ½ cups roasted butternut squash
- Bring it back up to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Puree using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender.
Bonnie Papso
I just made this and it's delicious! I had 1 1/2 butternut squash that I roasted and I thought I would use this for the soup. It already had pumpkin pie spice on top so I didn't add additional spices. It will be a nice addition to my lunch this week and I will be making this again!!
Thanks Roni!