"Souper" Simple and Simply Delicious Soup!

I've been looking for some new soup recipes.  My Pinterest board is full of them.  It's winter, it's cold, I like soup but I was getting tired of the same old, same old.

I found several recipes for butternut squash soup, and several of those included sage.  I love sage and butternut squash is one of my favorites and we eat it quite often, the two together had to be good.

I started by roasting the squash.  I cubed it and then coated it with some Mushroom and Sage EVOO from my favorite place, The Olive Grove Olive Oil Company!  I've only used this oil for roasting turkey or making gravy, now I have another use for it!

Some recipes called for shallots or onions, others called for other vegetables, I landed on just garlic and sage for my "flavor enhancers."  I sauteed them in a little more of the mushroom and sage EVOO then added chicken stock and let it simmer a few minutes so the flavors could meld.

Off the heat I added the dairy, a little milk and a little Greek yogurt then I added the squash back.

I love it when I get to play with my immersion blender!  It made short work of turning this mixture into soup.

I served it with a dollop of creme fraiche, a crispy sage leaf and some roasted pumpkin seeds!  Delicious!  The sage flavor came through the squash beautifully and the slight bit of sour of the creme fraiche was perfect!  Start to finish this soup took less than an hour and most of that was waiting for the squash to roast!

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash - the one I used was just over 3 pounds whole, peeled and cubed (in a hurry, make smaller cubes!)
3 Tablespoons olive oil (I like the Mushroom and Sage flavor)
2 Cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
2 Cups chicken stock (you may need more if your squash is large!)
1/4 Cup milk
1/4 Cup Greek yogurt
Garnishes - fried a sage leaf and garnished with that, some creme fraiche and toasted pumpkin seeds, but garnish with what you like!

Directions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees (in a hurry, use 450!)
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, line it with parchment, or do like I do and use your very well seasoned Pampered Chef rimmed baking stone!  HINT:  I preheat my stone in the oven while it heats up.  It really helps with the browning.  You won't want to do this if you use parchment however.
Toss squash with 2 tablespoons of oil and place them on the baking sheet.
Bake until they are nicely caramelized and cooked through.  In a 400 degree oven, with about 1" cubes this should take about 20-30 minutes.

When the squash is about done, in a large dutch oven, saute the garlic and sage in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil for just a minute or so, until fragrant.
Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.  Turn the head down to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and add in the milk and yogurt.  Stir to combine.

Add in the roasted squash and puree until smooth with an immersion blender.  Don't own an immersion blender?  No worries!  You can puree the soup in your regular blender or a food processor.

Pour into your favorite soup bowls, top with a pretty garnish and enjoy!