Roasted Butternut Squash/ginger Soup

This one is for my new friend i met over at the grocery store.

We were talking about the various ways to cook up some

great butternut squash during this time of the year and i asked

her if she liked soup. She replied she loves soup so i decide to

part with one of my favorite soup recipes for this time of the

year.

AW, roasted butternut squash/ginger soup….but you can always

change it over to …with sage if that is what you prefer, hey, it is

your soup: do what you want with it.

one thing i should note, however, is that whenever i am roasting

squash (or yams, or sweet potatoes), i always add some diced up

apples half way through. Roasted squash with apples is a sure fire

hit any time of the year in my book!

in fact, the other day i was just roasting up some good root vegetables

along with my old trusty sea salt and cracked black pepper and man,

they were good, but my daughter tried them and tried to get mom to

get dad to "spill the beans" on how dad did the veggies…what secret sauce did he

use?

it is amazing what just ole sea salt and pepper will do when you allow the natural

sugars in the veggies carmelize and wow, it brings out such flavor. no hiding,

no mixing it with other ingred. or sauces, or tricks of any kind, just good old

fashioned cooking the way grandma used to do.

anyway, sorry to just ramble on, so here is one of my favorite recipes for

Liz. here you go girl…and remember i used apple cider instead of making

it a cream soup like i had done for years and it was every bit as good, maybe

even better this year without all the heavy cream!

* 2 butternut squash (about 4 3/4 pounds total), halved lengthwise, seeded

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 cups thinly sliced onion
* 1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
* 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cinnamon stick
* 5 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
* 2 diced red apples
* 2 stalks celery, diced
* season with garlic, salt and pepper
* Chopped fresh parsley

REMEMBER, YOU CAN OMIT THE CHICKEN BROTH AND THEN USE
APPLE CIDER INSTEAD.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash, cut
side down, on baking sheet. Bake until squash is very soft,
about 50 minutes. Using paring knife, remove peel from
squash; discard peel. Cut squash into 2-inch pieces. Heat
oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Mix in onion,
brown sugar, ginger, garlic and cinnamon. Cover pot and
cook until onion is tender, about 15 minutes. Add squash
and 5 cups chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to
medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard cinnamon.

Working in batches, purée soup in blender. (Can be prepared
1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate.) Return
soup to pot. Season soup with salt and pepper. Bring to
immer, thinning soup with more broth if necessary. Ladle
into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.