Butternut Squash Soup

I made this soup a few times last year and each time I had to wing it because I forgot to write down the recipe. I had told my mom how I made it though and so this year she sent me the ingredients which had no amounts. So I was sorta winging it again but it worked! I made it for about 25 people so I scaled this recipe down (hope i did the math right!). I'm guessing this will serve about 8.

5 lbs butternut squash
1 lb potatoes
10 cups stock (I use chicken, but veggie stock is easily substituted)
2 onions, chopped
some garlic cloves (separated but unpeeled)

Heat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop seeds and squash-guts out of the cavity. Rub olive oil on the inside of the squash, put 1 or 2 cloves of garlic inside the cavity and put the squash face-down on a baking sheet. Bake for 45min - 1 hr until squash is soft enough to easily poke thickest part with a fork. Cool to almost room-temp. It's much easier to scoop out the squash flesh if you aren't burning your hands doing it!

Meanwhile...

Sauté onion until it's soft. Add diced potato and about half a cup of the stock and cook the potato until it's soft as well. Add scooped out squash (discard skins!) and squeeze roasted garlic into pot as well. Add the rest of the stock. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Turn off heat and purée. This is where I love my stick-blender. Otherwise you have to pour it into a blender and try not to scald yourself doing it!

The soup on its own is lovely. The toppings make it rockin'.

We top ours with marjoram-parsley-pecan pesto: made like regular basil-pinenut pesto (herbs, lemon juice - a lot, garlic, nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper) but with different herbs and nuts. And walnut butter: throw butter and walnuts into a food processor until blended and then put a dollup on the soup.

Oh, and fried sage. Melt butter in a pan until it's *almost* browning, toss in some sage leaves. Fry until they're curled up and crisping, drain on a paper towel.

This isn't the most organized recipe but I hope you can follow it anyway! It's worth it!