Bumper Crop of Butternut Squash

Back on June 12th we picked our first batch of butternut squash.  The variety name is Waltham, I'm pretty sure.  These hold up pretty well if you don't refrigerate them.  Their flesh is a dark orange and the taste is rich and sweet, even if you cut them in half and just oven roast them.  A perfect side dish for any protein on your plate.

My favorite way to eat them is butternut squash soup.  It's so rich and creamy.  Down here in Louisiana, it's so hot.  It's hard for me to enjoy soup until the temperature drops or else you're eating it and dabbing your forehead to wipe the sweat off.  So our excitement intensified when a "cool front" rolled through.  I'm being generous with the term cool front.  By that, I mean that it was the first week in which the high temperatures didn't go over the 90 degree mark.  It's a judgment call, but we consulted with one another and determined that it could be decreed "gumbo weather."  That means that in our home, and by our rules, it is safe and legal to eat gumbo and/or soup.  

Using some fresh cream from LuLu, who generously donated some heavy cream to the butternut squash soup project, Tricia whipped up a pot full of soup.

After a long hot summer, the shallots have revived themselves.  I went out and cut some fresh shallots to put atop the butternut squash soup.  We also toasted some sourdough bread and drizzled some olive oil on top of the toast.  Even though it's not exactly cool enough outside, it was cool enough to enjoy our first bowl of butternut squash soup in many moons.

Here's the "money" shot.  Rich, creamy, smooth and flavorful!

Butternut squash soup.  There's plenty more of those to be made in the next several months!