Butternut Squash/Sausage Soup

You just get some nuts, but­ter ’em and squash ’em.

We got yer BAM! BAM! right here, Emiril!
  • Ingre­di­ents:
  • 4 or 5 lbs. of but­ter­nut squash, peeled, halved and seeds removed
  • 1⁄2 lb. sweet Ital­ian sausage, removed from cas­ings (bulk sweet Ital­ian sausage is fine too — just make sure there are no casings)
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves gar­lic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tsp. chopped fresh marjoram
  • 6 cups light chick­en stock or broth
  • 1 tsp. cider vine­gar or lemon juice
  • 1⁄2 cup heavy cream, or more to taste
  • Veg­etable oil
  • Black pep­per
  • Kosher salt

Pre­heat oven to 400°.

Cut up the peeled squash into rough­ly 2‑inch pieces. Line a cook­ie sheet with foil and coat with a lit­tle veg­etable oil. Arrange the squash pieces in a sin­gle lay­er and brush with veg­etable oil. Sea­son with kosher salt and black pep­per. Roast at 400° until the pieces start to caramelize on top — about 30 min­utes, but check often after 25 min­utes so they won’t burn.

In a large saucepan over medi­um-high heat, heat a thin lay­er of veg­etable oil until it’s hot, but not smok­ing. Cook the sausage until gold­en brown, about 4 minutes.

Add onions, stir­ring, until the onions are sweated and just start­ing to caramelize, about 6 minutes.

Add the gar­lic, sage and mar­jo­ram and stir for 1 minute.

Add roast­ed squash and chick­en stock, stir well to com­bine, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to sim­mer for at least 30 min­utes, stir­ring occasionally.

Puree the soup with a stick blender or in batch­es in a blender or food processor.

Add the lemon juice and stir to combine.

Stir in cream — make sure the lemon juice is well-mixed first so the cream doesn’t curdle.

Serves 4 — 6.

Options:

For thicker/chunkier soup, try more squash and/or sausage, or less chick­en stock. You can also set aside some of the sausage before adding the onions, chop the sausage to desired con­sis­ten­cy and add back in after pureeing.

Soup Like a BOSS!

Since this recipe takes some prep work, I like to make dou­ble or triple batch­es in a stock pot and freeze indi­vid­ual serv­ings in reseal­able con­tain­ers. This soup reheats well.