Warning! This post contains an unnecessary amount of pictures!
This is a bit late. Rather than sharing this lovely fall soup with you guys last Friday as planned, I went to the dentist and the DMV instead…double torture. The only thing that made up for it was that the hubs and I had a little date night which consisted of cooking together and then enjoying a lovely simple (and incredibly delicious) meal together (no kids!). It was fabulous.
Saturday we had our son’s football game and Sunday we went to the zoo. This was a first for our youngest so it was a lot of fun.
The remainder of our day consisted of football (go Cowboys!) and naps. Great weekend overall.
Ok, on with it.
Winter Squash Soup
Ingredients:
2 Acorn Squash
1 Butternut Squash
Ground Cumin
Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Shitake Mushrooms
6-8 Cloves of Garlic
Fresh Herbs – Oregano, rosemary, thyme
3-4 Cups Chicken Stock
1-2 Cups Sweet White Wine or Champagne
1 Cup milk, cream or half and half
1 cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted Squash seeds for garnish
Parmesan for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Split all of the squash in half.
Scoop the seeds out into a mesh strainer and set aside.
Place squash flesh side up on a sheet pan and drizzle with Olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cumin and cinnamon and place in preheated oven.
Meanwhile, smash garlic and remove skin. Chop fresh herbs and slice mushrooms. Then saute with olive oil in a large crock pot or dutch oven.
Once tender, add wine and chicken stock and simmer with lid on.

I used a sparkling Moscato and homemade chicken stock that I froze into cubes a couple of weeks ago.
While that simmers, wash your seeds off and remove any remaining flesh then allow to dry on a clean towel.
Once dry, toss the seeds with olive oil and salt then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and set aside.
Remove squash when brownish and fork tender. Then put your seeds in the oven and roast until brown and crispy.
Scoop out the flesh into a blender and add the simmering liquid. I had to do this in batches as it wouldn’t all fit at the same time. Then, as odd as this sounds, I grated a bit of parm and cracked black pepper on the warm empty acorn squash skins and ate them for lunch. Many of the nutrients are found in the skin and when roasted this way they are tender and with that little bit of flesh left on that you can’t quite scrape off this makes a pretty delicious (and healthy!) lunch.
Once everything is pureed throw it all back into the pot and add the milk and parmesan. You can add more milk or more chicken stock here to achieve a soupy consistency or you can leave it a bit thicker like a loose puree. Bring to a simmer and taste to see if it needs salt.
Garnish your bowl with shaved parmesan and toasted seeds. Don’t forget the bread…