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4.36 from 53 votes

Butternut Squash Soup with Ghost Croutons

This is a great warm, creamy, and comforting soup. It is light and healthy, but feels and taste indulgent. 
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 688kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put a very large saucepan on a medium heat and pour in a couple of glugs of olive oil.
  • Add the sage leaves and fry for around 30 seconds or until dark green and crisp. Quickly remove them with a slotted spoon. You'll use these for sprinkling over the soup at the end. In the pan you'll be left with a beautifully flavored oil.
  • Put the pot back on the heat and throw in your onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, crushed red pepper and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are sweet and soft. Add the squash and the stock to the pan, bring to a boil and simmer for around 40-50 minutes.
  • When the squash is soft and cooked through, whiz the soup with an immersion blender or pour it into a standard blender or food processor and pulse until you have a smooth puree (but you can leave it slightly chunky if you like).
  • Return to the pot and add the cream and butter, storring until mixed through. Allow to simmer on the stove until ready to serve.
  • Make your croutons:
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Take a ghost cookie cutter and cut your beer bread into to four ghost. Lightly butter one side of the toast and place butter side down on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the top side with as much cheese as you desire. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until your ghost are toasted and the cheese has melted.
  • To serve:
  • Divide the soup between your bowls, placing a ghost on top of each. Sprinkle with a few of your crispy sage leaves.

Notes

* The heavy cream is a delicious addition to this soup and I do recommend using it. However, it is not essential and can be replaced with a half cup more of chicken broth. * I happened to have leftover beer bread, which went great with the soup, but any bread can be used. And obviously you do not need to make the croutons into ghost regular old toast would be just a good. *Again the butter adds great flavor and goes really well with the squash, but it can be left out. *To Make Ahead: For the soup: Prepare the soup through all steps. Allow to cool and store in the fridge until ready to eat. For the Croutons: Completely prepare and store in the fridge on their baking sheet. When ready to eat preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place soup pot back on the stove and simmer until warmed through. Bake croutons as directed. *To Freeze: Prepare soup and allow to cool. Freeze in a gallon size freezer ziplock bag up to six months. When ready to eat either remove from freezer the night before and allow to defrost in the fridge, place on the counter and allow the soup to defrost for a few hours, or cut the soup out of the freezer bag and place in a large soup pot on low heat.

Nutrition

Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 530mg | Potassium: 509mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 15215IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 136mg | Iron: 1.5mg