Butternut Squash Soup

I'm a big believer in mise en place (everything in its place), it saves you time and hassles once you start cooking.  For my mise, I go down each and every recipe I'm going to make and everything I can prep ahead I do.  That way I have it at my fingertips when it's time to go into the pan.  So that's how I'm going to start each post, with a picture of my mise.

Here we have shallots, butter, butternut squash, the reserved seeds and pulp from the squash, heavy cream and brown sugar.

Here is the prepped squash ready to go into a 425 degree oven until it's cooked.  I've simply seasoned it with oil, salt and pepper.

The squash after about an hour in the oven at 425.

The shallots go into the butter along with the reserved pulp.  The toasted seeds and shallots provide body to the soup.

 The completed toasted seeds and shallots

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The pureed squash in the pan ready for the addition of the cream, brown sugar and final seasonings.

Finished product, garnished with some fresh cream, a cilantro leaf and a touch of ground nutmeg.

This is a recipe I got from Cooking at Home with America's Test Kitchen.  Overall, very very simple to make and the results were outstanding.  If you want the recipe just ask me and I can send it to you.  I'll admit I tweaked it a bit by roasting the squash rather than steaming.  Personally, I think roasting tastes so much better.