HappyCook80's Recipe

Butternut Squash Soup With Sizzled Sage

Category: Recipes

Butternut Squash Soup With Sizzled Sage

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 or 3 small butternut squash, about 3 pounds
6 unpeeled garlic cloves
2 large Spanish onions, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup water
3 cups apple juice or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons butter
20 fresh sage leaves, sliced on the diagonal

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the bottom of a large baking pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and set aside.

Cut squash through stem ends into halves. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then prick the skin in several places with a knife. Brush cut surfaces with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Nest the garlic inside the squash cavities, then place squash halves in the pan cut side down. Add onions to the pan and brush with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Pour water into bottom of the pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the squash is tender and the onions are soft. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and discard the skins.

In batches in a blender, combine baked vegetables, apple juice, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and puree until smooth. Pour soup into a pot and heat gently.

In a small skillet, melt butter and saute the sage leaves until dark and curled. Garnish each bowl of soup with sage leaves.
Serves 6.