You’ve probably seen this recipe in just about every cookbook, magazine, and Martha Stewart anything, am I right? They’re all the same. just some boiled pureed squash and apples….BLEH!!!! Show that squash some respect and give that soup some BALLS!!! What do you get when you boil apples? Apple sauce…BOOOOOOOORING!!!!!! Give them some color and let their autumn essence out!!! Ok , I got a little carried away there…Anyway, this recipe is my spin on the classic recipe you see every year, but mixing in some old school techniques that bring out the best of all of the ingredients. This makes a little over a 2 1/2 quarts.
- 3lbs. Butternut squash (whole or diced form your grocer if they have it pre-cut)
- 1 1/2 lbs. Honey Crips (or Granny Smith) Apples
- 2 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
- 1 qt. chicken stock
- 1/2 c. rough chopped onion
- 1 c. white wine
- 1 tbsp chopped sage leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped rosemary
- Melted butter for brushing and cooking
- 1/2 c. sour cream or greek yogurt (optional)
- First thing, turn up that oven to about 450. Take your squash, split it, scoop the seeds out, then score it like this:
- If your squash is pre-cut, then just toss it with the sage and some butter or ail and throw it in the oven until it’s soft, about 20-30 minutes. If it’s whole, cut it in to 3 inch chunks, toss it in the oil and sage, then throw it in the oven for about 40 minutes. I like to cover the squash the first 10-15 minutes, then uncover it to release the moisture but not allow it to get too dark. If you like some color on your squash and extra sweetness, go ahead and leave it uncovered.
- Cut the apples into 2 inch wedges, leaving the seeds out, and get a pan with about 2 tbsp of butter in it nice and hot. Add the apples and let then caramelize, like this:
- Add your onions and ginger and let those cook until the onions get translucent. Add you wine and turn your heat down low.
- Let this simmer until the wine is reduced by half. Then add you stock & let everything cook here until the apples are soft. Put this off to the side until the squash is done.
- Let the squash cool, then toss the apples, squash and rosemary into a blender and pulse it a few times before you let it rip for two minutes, or until everything is smooth. If you need to break this up into a couple batches go ahead, it won’t hurt anything. Also, if the soup is too thick for you, just add some stock or water. Now season, season season.
- If I’m freezing this soup I stop here. If not, I’ll add the cream or yogurt, just to finish it out.
I like to garnish this soup withe some bacon lardons (Applewood smoked of course) and some small diced apples just seared in butter. You can do a couple of little pieces of grilled apple too. Blue Cheese??? OF COURSE!!!! Now some of you may be saying “Doc, I have a veg-head in the family, what about that?” No problem, just use vegetable stock or apple juice instead of chicken stock. Got questions? Leave them in the comments, we’ll get your answers.
Happy Dining,
-The Doctor