Cooking for Zo

Taste Level: VG
Cost: $20 and under
Serves: 6-8
Prep Time: 10-15 min.
Cook Time: 55 min.- 1 hour 5 minutes
Difficulty: 2

This is not my best soup ever or maybe it is? I am not a fan of butternut squash. It is a little sweet for my taste. I constantly try to tone it down when I cook it but I never can seem to. Zo and my sister however love butternut squash so I still try to make it now and then. Zo liked this soup and I have not been able to try it out on my sister yet! I had a bowl when I made it and one for lunch the next day. It is tasty but definitely not a soup I want to have all the time. To butternut squashy for me! If you love butternut squash then I am sure you will love this soup!

Ingredients:
1 1 3/4-2 lb butternut squash (peeled you can remove the seeds if you like)
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 1/2 tsp fresh chives (diced)
1 1/2 tsp fresh sage (diced)
2 eggs
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 2/3 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable bullion
1/2 cup aged Swiss (shredded)
1 cup aged English cheddar (shredded)
2 tbsp Parmesan Reggiano
2 1/2 tbsp Sweet European butter
1 1/2 tsp black truffle oil
1 tsp white truffle oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp essence
1/8 tsp ground cumin
liquid smoke (mesquite)
Fresh crack pepper (to taste)
kosher salt (to taste)
(2 green onions sliced for garnish)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

After peeling the squash cut it into thin bit size slices and place in a buttered baking dish and cook bake for 35-40 minutes or until starting to become tender. Remove from oven and sit aside.

In a large sauce pan melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add truffle oils, all dry seasonings, onion, garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the squash to the mixture and let cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Prepare your bullion and whisk together eggs, sage, chives, milk and cream till blended evenly. Now pour the mixture into the sauce pan and turn heat to medium low. Let simmer for 10 minutes stirring often being careful not to allow milk to break.

Sprinkle in cheese and allow to melt (4-6 minutes.)

Now if you have look at any of my other soup posts you know there are a few was to go about this next step. You can either use an Immersion blender, a regular blender or a food processor. We have all three so I will explain each;

Way 1. If you have an Immersion blender, remove stock pot from heat and blend for 3-4 minutes until all of the soup is liquefied. (This is the easiest way by far.)

Way 2. If you have a regular blender, add soup to the blender until it is about 3/4 way full. Blend till smooth and then stir back into pot and heat through continuing until all is smooth. (This is not to bad.)

Way 3. If you have a food processor you will probably need to do this in two to three steps. Pour portions of soup into batches that fit your processor and process until smooth, stirring each batch back into pot and heating through. (Takes a bit of time and can be a mess.)

After whatever way you choose to liquefy the soup. Turn off heat once heated through, serve and sprinkle your desired amount of green onions over each dish.