Time To Be Inspired

Here’s a delicious soup I prepared for lunch with friends the other day. It’s a slow cooker recipe from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen. I love their recipes because they test the living daylights out of everything to make sure they’ve created really yummy dishes.

Butternut Squash Chowder

6 slices bacon, chopped fine

1 onion, chopped fine

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp. dried

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 cup flour

4 c. chicken broth

3 c. vegetable broth

3 lb. butternut squash, (8 c.) peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2 ” pieces

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

salt and pepper

8 oz. kale, stemmed, leaves sliced into 1/4 ” strips

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 tbsp. fresh sage, minced (optional)

1 tsp. brown sugar

grated Parmesan cheese

Cook bacon in 12″ skillet over med. high heat until crisp. Stir in onion, garlic, thyme and nutmeg and cook until onion is lightly browned. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in 2 c. chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining broths, half of squash and bay leaves into slow cooker. Toss remaining squash with oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap in foil packet. Lay foil packet on top of soup. Cover and cook 4 – 6 hours on low.
Transfer foil packet to plate. Remove bay leaves. Stir kale into soup, cover and cook on high 20 – 30 minutes.

Carefully open foil packet and stir squash and accumulated juice into soup. Stir in cream, sage and sugar and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, extra nutmeg to taste, and parmesan. Serve and enjoy!

I served this soup to my charming guests on Valentine’s day. We shared a simple meal, latte’s, some stashed Christmas cookies and great conversation. Nice to spend time together.