Season of Squash

With the abundance of squash during the fall comes a flurry of orange and yellow dishes. My recent favorite features roasted Butternut squash and Louie’s Italian sausage. It was based on a recipe from here, but modified to my personal taste and texture. Again, I used the canned beef broth I made.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup
1 large butternut squash, about 3 pounds, halved, seeds removed
1/2 pound Italian sausage (~3 whole links)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, chopped
3 cups beef broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, or more to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Lightly coat the squash halves with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, salt, and pepper on both sides. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake until fork tender, about 30-45 minutes, remove from oven and let cool. When the squash has cooled enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and reserve.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat sauté the sausage till browned, remove and cut into small pieces. Add remaining olive oil to the pan and cook the onions until soft and opaque. Add the garlic, sage and rosemary; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. In a large soup pot, add the onion mixture, cooked squash, 1/2 the sausage mixture, and chicken stock, stir well to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

With a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor or blender, puree the soup. Add the cream and remaining sausage pieces. Adjust seasoning to taste and add water till thickness desired.

Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with more chopped rosemary leaves.