squash soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole 3-4 lb butternut squash
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3-4 yellow onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup dry sherry (this is a rough estimate)
- 6 cups chicken stock, plus more as needed
- 2/3 cups heavy cream
- 1-2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (adjust to taste)
- 1-2 tablespoon maple syrup (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne, plus more to to taste (start with 1/8 tsp if you're spice averse, or if you have very fresh cayenne)
- Olive oil, salt, pepper
Preheat oven to 400. Cut the squash into two open halves. Scrape out all the seeds from the squash and cut diagonal slits into the flesh of the squash halves. Put the garlic cloves into the emptied-out squash bellies. Rub the squash halves and garlic with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast the squash halves skin-side-up, with the garlic cloves nestled into the bellies, until the squash is completely tender and golden-brown on top, roughly 90 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. This step can be done well in advance. Sometime after it cools, discard the tough stem and tear the squash into hunks. The skin will disintegrate later when the soup gets blended, so there's no need to peel it.
Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, salt, and pepper. Cook for a few minutes so that the onions start to soften, then reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté the onions gently for about 30 minutes, until they're beginning to caramelize. Add sherry and use a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Let the wine reduce for a minute or two, so that the onions take on a jammy consistency. They should smell sweet, wine-y, and delicious. Add the chicken stock, roasted squash, and garlic halves. Taste and add more salt as needed. Bring the mixture up to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Give the soup a good stir every now and then to help break up the hunks of squash. Kill the heat and leave the soup on the stove like this until whenever you're 30 minutes out from serving. The soup should have a chili-like consistency at this point. Add more stock if it seems too thick.
30 minutes before dinner is served, transfer all the soup into a blender. Blend the soup very thoroughly at a high speed for a few minutes, so that the soup becomes exceptionally smooth. You will likely need to do this in batches. Clean out the dutch oven while the soup is blending. Return the pureed soup to the dutch oven and heat gently over medium heat. As it heats, add the cream, maple syrup, vinegar, and cayenne. Whisk everything together thoroughly. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning however you see fit. If it's too thick, go ahead and add more liquid. If you want it sweeter, add more syrup. Want it brighter? Add more vinegar. You get the idea.