....is 'Our' Soup

It's Fall! It's Fall! 

I guess it's has been officially fall for over a month but at the end of September it was still 80+ degrees in San Diego. The weather has finally started to cool, it was a chilly 60 something when I went to work this morning. I know it's ridiculous but I find that cold. I've been craving this soup for a while but couldn't bring myself to make it while it still felt like Summer. 

In architecture school my roommate and I had two similar recipes, both Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato soups but slightly different. We combined the two recipes and came up with 'our soup'. I'm not sure we made it exactly the same way twice so the recipe below is a delicious approximation. 

1 2-lb Butternut Squash, Peeled, Seeded & Cubed

4 Medium Sweet Potatoes, Peeled & Cubed

1 Onion, Halved & Thinly Sliced

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced

2 in Ginger, Minced

6-8 Cups of Chicken Broth

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Five-Spice Powder

1/2 - 1 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Handful of Kale, Sliced

Parmesan, Shredded

In a cast iron pot, sauté Onions in Olive Oil over Medium Heat until they soften and become slightly translucent. Add Garlic & Ginger, sauté a few minutes longer. Add cubed Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes. Pour broth into the pot, enough to cover the vegetables. Stir occasionally every 30 minutes until the squashes soften.

Puree 6-8 cups in a food processor or use an immersion blender if you have one. Leave some pieces whole so it's more like a stew (and less like baby food). In a separate bowl combine Yogurt with some of the pureed soup, this will help keep the Yogurt from separating (you can also use heavy cream but I wold still follow this step). Pour the Yogurt/Soup combination back into the pot. Serve topped with thinly sliced Kale  and of Parmesan cheese (lots of it!).

Enjoy with a crunchy loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and one or more of your best friends!

Happy Cooking!