Squash soup

[Jan :)]

Hi all,

I made a baked squash soup, with roasted pumpkin seed oil drizzle topping,
and toasted garlic & herb bread for dinner last night. I prefer the squash
to pumpkin, as tastes practically the same, and, the squash has a much
smoother texture. The roasted pumpkin seed oil drizzle really makes it
yummy.

[Jan :)]

Sorry, hit the send button too soon...here is the recipe I wanted to share:

Baked Squash soup:
Ingredients:
1 - Medium-Large sized Butternut squash (substitute: Acorn or Buttercup
squash)
1 - Small sweet onion, diced (I use a Vidalia)
1 - Large stalk celery, chopped (include leaves if any)
2 - Tbs butter
4 - Cups fresh chicken stock
1 - Clove garlic, chopped
2 - Tbs Oil
1/4 - Tsp salt
1/4 - Tsp Black pepper
1/8 - Tsp Allspice

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 300F
Cut squash in half, remove any seeds
Place squash halves cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet
Place cookie sheet on the top rack in the middle of the oven (adjust rack
height if necessary)
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn oven to 250F and back until outside skin is
tender to the touch (approx. 20 - 30 minutes)
Remove from oven and let cool to until pieces can be comfortably handled
Sauté onion, celery and garlic in the Oil until onion is opaque and celery
is tender
Add 4 cups chicken broth and butter to a med-large soup pot and heat to a
simmer.
Scoop out the insides of each half of the cooled squash into a blender.
Add sautéed veggies and all other ingredients to the squash and puree.
Add pureed mixture to chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand covered for 15 minutes.
When serving, drizzle roasted pumpkin seed oil over the top of the soup. It
not only looks good, it tastes great. (I also sometimes sprinkle toasted
Sesame seeds on top.)

Serve with toasted slices of Italian or Sesame seed bread. I use a butter
spread I make with butter, garlic, herbs, and fresh grated Parmesan. I
spread it on one side of each bread slice, then place the slices on a small
rack, such as a cake cooling rack, and then put that on the top rack in a
375F oven for about 10 minutes, or until nicely toasted. (I put a piece of
tinfoil on the bottom of the oven under the bread rack in case any of the
spread drips down while toasting.)

You can adjust the salt, pepper and Allspice to your own taste.

Note: You can also substitute fresh pumpkin for the squash, it will taste
pretty much the same, but, I find the squash has a much smoother texture,
and is a lot easier to prep.

Jan :)