Savoring the Season: Butternut Squash Soup

I love the feeling of eating a season in a bowl. Soups are particularly good for this. In the fall, my soups take a turn toward homey, savory, and earthy, and few soups achieve this balance as well as butternut squash. A few weeks ago at our favorite splurge-worthy restaurant, I wanted to marry the bowl of butternut squash soup I was eating, it was so perfectly done. Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered the chef's recipe on a local food blog. After a wee bit of tweaking to suit my tastebuds and access to ingredients, here's the version I came up with. Like all soups, this one is better the next day. I made it late-night to serve the next day for dinner and was wowed with the results. Slurp away!

Butternut Squash Soup

Adapted from J&G Steakhouse

Serves 5-6

Soup
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cups chicken broth
1 ¼ cup whole Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons butter, plus dab

1 shallot, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish
2 cups shitake mushrooms, cleaned and halved
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chives, cut into small pieces

Instructions

In a large pot, combine the squash and broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 20-30 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Working in batches, purée the mixture in a blender. Return the purée to the pot over medium-low heat, and add the yogurt and butter. In a pan, sauté one finely chopped shallot in a small dab of butter until soft, then add to the soup. Purée the soup one more time in a blender* until silky-smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

To prepare the garnish, go back to your separate pan and sauté your other finely chopped shallot in butter for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms start to brown slightly.

Pour the soup into bowls, garnish with mushrooms, and sprinkle with chives.

*If you have an immersion blender you could of course blend right in the pot, but I found my real-deal blender to work better for achieving the texture I wanted.