Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Crispy Sage
A blender soup that tastes like more work than it is, finished with butter browned until it smells like a bakery.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Written
Method
-
Heat the oven to 425°F. Rub the cut sides of the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and set cut-side down on a sheet pan.
-
Roast until a knife slides through the thickest part with no resistance, 40 to 45 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, warm the remaining olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
-
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
-
Scoop the roasted squash flesh into the pot, discarding the skins, and pour in the stock.
-
Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender until completely smooth.
-
Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper.
-
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and add the sage leaves; cook until the butter smells nutty and turns the color of light caramel and the leaves have gone crisp and dark, about 3 minutes.
-
Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with crispy sage leaves and a spoonful of the browned butter.
Notes
Roast the squash instead of boiling it — boiling waterlogs it and you spend the rest of the recipe trying to cook that water back out. The skins should peel away from the flesh with a spoon once roasted; if they’re still clinging, it needs a few more minutes in the oven.
The brown butter isn’t a garnish, it’s the second half of the flavor — don’t skip it for a drizzle of plain olive oil. No sage on hand, a spoonful of chili crisp does a different but equally good job of cutting the sweetness.