Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Ginger and Brown Sugar

It's chilly in Minnesota today.  Time for soup!  Mildly sweet with squash and brown sugar, mildly spicy with ginger and pepper...this soup will not disappoint on a crisp end of summer day.

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

One medium acorn squash, cut into eighths
3 cups chicken broth, divided
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 inch cube of peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 tablespoons butter, sliced
Salt and red pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a 9 by 13 oven proof pan, scatter squash, 1 cup broth, brown sugar, ginger, rosemary and butter.  Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and red pepper flakes and cover tightly.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, always covered.  Remove from the oven and let cool overnight, or until the squash is cool enough to handle.  Carefully scoop the flesh from the rind of the squash and discard the rind.

In a food processor, puree everything from the baking pan together (including liquid), adding just enough additional chicken broth to get things moving freely in the processor.  Puree for one full minute.  You may have to do this in two batches.  Pour the puree into a medium saucepan and add more chicken broth until the soup reaches the consistency you prefer.  I don't use quite all of the broth, but you may want to.  As the soup comes to a boil over medium-high heat, add a generous pinch of salt, to taste.  Lower the heat to a simmer and simmer for five minutes.  Serve warm, garnished with a drizzle of good olive oil and fried sage.  I used blood orange olive oil that I had on hand and it was fantastic!  (Serves about 4 adults)


Fried Sage

Heat about 1/3 inch of oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Once the oil is hot, but before the oil is so hot that is smokes, toss in a handful of whole sages leaves.  The leaves will bubble violently for a few seconds.  Once the noise subsides and most of the bubbles are gone, remove the leaves to a stack of paper towels.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and use as a garnish on anything from steak to soup to pumpkin cake.

Enjoy!