A few weeks ago, Kelsey of the Naptime Chef asked me to participate in a virtual dinner party to celebrate the release of Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations, a collection of entertaining recipes from those who do it best. The proceeds of the cookbook benefit Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the fight against cancer.
I was thrilled to be included in such a great event, so I accepted her invitation right away! She sent me this recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan and Sage as my dish to “bring” to the dinner party. Butternut squash soup has been one of my favorites ever since I was first served it on my honeymoon in Jamaica a few years ago. Amazingly enough, it has always been something I ordered at restaurants and never made myself.
The recipe from Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations lived up to all of my expectations. As the soup simmered, the smell of the leeks and onions filled the kitchen, bringing warmth to a chilly fall afternoon. The pureed butternut squash and carrots created a beautiful, golden colored soup that tasted like pure liquid autumn.
The completed soup was smooth and creamy – elegant enough for any dinner party, yet easy enough to whip up on a busy weeknight for dinner. In fact, I plan on adding it to my Thanksgiving menu this year! The next time I make it, I plan on garnishing each serving with crispy sage leaves fried in olive oil for a bit of a twist.
Be sure to stop in at the dinner party and sample all of the other recipes over at The Naptime Chef!
Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan and Sage
(from Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations)
Makes 6 to 8 servings
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, cut in half, seeded, and cubed
- 2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups well-seasoned chicken stock
- 2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ½ cup heavy cream, optional
- Sage leaves for garnish
- Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, optional
Place the squash, leeks, carrots, and onion in a saucepan. Add the butter and salt, cover, and cook over low heat until the vegetables start to soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using a tablespoon, drop about 24 small mounds of the cheese onto a nonstick baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake until the cheese melts and forms lacy crisps. Remove from the oven and cool. Set aside.
When the vegetables are soft, cool briefly, then puree them, along with the stock, in a blender or food processor in two batches. Return the puree to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Season with salt to taste. Add the heavy cream, if using, and heat through. Serve in bowls or mugs, each garnished with Parmesan crisps and a sage leaf. If you like, drizzle the surface of the soup with olive oil.
I have a butternut squash to use up. I might try your soup. It looks wonderful!
What a gorgeous soup…sure looks as pretty as liquid gold. WOW! Love the pictures too. Beautiful!!
Look amazing Jen – picture perfect.
Butternut squash soup epitomizes fall, doesn’t it? Thanks for testing the recipe. Lucky us!
Delicious butternut squash soup! I love the parmesan crisp here.
That’s absolutely beautiful Jen. I love the addition of the parmesan crisp garnish. Very pretty!
fantastic soup – perfectly executed now if I could only taste it!
Great event and my favourite way to eat butternut squash soup!!!
What a nice blog. We love butternut squash soup. What an amazing one you made.
Delicious looking soup.
Mimi
I love how smooth and creamy it looks…yum!
There’s seriously nothing I love better than sage with butternut squash (well actually, I can think of a few things, but you get the point). The flavors work really nicely together. There’s a pizza place I used to go to when I lived in Boston that had a butternut squash/sage pizza and this soup brought me back. I’ll have to try it!
Awesome soup! I love the little cheese crackers thing. Definitely a nice addition and garnish to the soup. I tried makig something similar once and totally burnt it. lol.
Beautiful presentation. I’ve made two squash soups from other bloggers. This could be my next. You could tell I love squash soup. I’ll use pumpkin while looking for some butternut squash here. This would go well with the sandwich that you’ve made on your earlier post.
What a great recipe! I love sage and because I use so much of it during the holidays I think of it as a fall/winter ingredient. I bet it went so well with the parm and leek!
How incredibly delicious! I love it with the Parmesan crisps! I roasted squash last night for soup tonight! And I’m so glad after seeing this.
OMG! This butternut squash soup looks out of this world! Beautiful photos. :)
Just made it and it was a big hit! I left out the leeks and carrots, substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and pureed some sage leaves in. The cheese crisps were a wonderful idea. Thank you!
This would be wonderful if you fried the sage leaves!