Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
8-10 slices of bacon
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 small to medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
2 cans chicken broth (I think it's 14 oz., but it's the most common sized can.)
Real butter, unsalted - about 2/3 stick
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the strings and seeds and discard. Puncture the meat of the squash in several places.
4. While squash is cooking, fry the remaining bacon. Drain on paper towels, and cut or break into bits.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to be handled. Set the bacon aside for later use, but keep separate from the other bacon you have cooked. If the bacon did not get crispy, you may wish to fry it a little more.
6. Take a tablespoon or two, if needed, of bacon grease from your frying pan and pour it into the bottom of a soup pot. Over medium low heat, saute the thyme with the chopped onions until the onions are translucent.
7. Scoop chunks of squash into the pot until done. Allow to simmer with the onions, stirring frequently, for about 5 to 10 minutes. If it gets too thick too quickly, add a little chicken broth to moisten.
8. Add the remaining broth and bring to a boil.
9. Remove from heat and allow to cool enough to handle.
10. Pour into blender and blend until smooth.
12. Remove from heat. Stir in cream and serve immediately with a crusty bread.
Notes:
* Butternut squash is difficult to slice in half lengthwise, so I recruit Tony for this job on a regular basis. I did it once and determined I was lucky to have all of my fingers afterwards.
* The holes you puncture in the squash help the bacon grease run into the meat of the squash and increases the bacon flavor of the dish. I put the butter on top of the bacon because it too picks up bacon flavoring and runs into the squash.
* You can vary the ingredients with the size of the squash, and don't have to only use butternut squash for this soup. I've made it with pumpkin as well and had great success. A plus to pumpkin is that you get seeds to eat and will have enough fresh pumpkin baked up that you can freeze it and make the soup again later with a lot more ease. I have tried it with yellow squash, but you can't get rid of the seeds and, while it tasted okay, the texture was not okay.
* I like it creamy. So, I use about 4 oz. of the cream.
* Because of the cream, it doesn't freeze well. And, it doesn't really microwave well without a lot of attention paid to it, i.e. 1 minute, stir, 1 minute, stir, etc. Fortunately, it's a really yummy soup and we seldom have much, if any, left over.
* If the bacon isn't cooked to crispy, it is not a welcome texture in this soup. Trust me on this. Soft, invisible bacon is bad.
* I used fresh thyme from the garden. I don't really know the proper exchange, so I just grabbed a handful of sprigs.
Ratings:
Sandy's rating: 5.00 stars
I love this soup. It takes a bit of time to make, but it is such a treat. And, it's not that normal sweetened squash that everyone serves. The bacon flavor and the natural sweetness of the squash and onions are all you need. I may have to make this again very soon!
Tony's rating: 4.0 stars
It was definitely good. For the holidays, it is one of the most perfect dishes you can make because it just tastes like the holidays.
Cost: about $26 - $27
0.78 lb onion - $1.01
4.92 lb butternut squash - $9.79
small carton heavy whipping cream - $2.29
chicken broth - .96/can
thick sliced bacon - about $9
crusty French bread - 2.49
We had the thyme and butter, but that would add about $5 to this if.
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