Yesterday, after my Nia class in Central San Jose, I went to Campbell to pick up some locally “grown” honey. It has been pretty cold here so I have been drinking tea and I was thinking soup. It was at the last minute and through a chance of “well this light is green so I will turn this way” that I ended up at Trader Joe’s. I don’t get to Trader Joe’s often because it is just not in my regularly traveled areas. I didn’t know what I was going to get there until I saw the package of cut butternut squash. Then I was on my phone trying to find the recipe so I could make certain I got all the ingredients for butternut squash soup.
I have made this soup at least twice before, but the last time I made it I put too much pepper in it. Probably not even as much as the recipe calls for, but it was WAY too hot for me to eat. I was soooooooo disappointed. But at least it didn’t go to waste because my hubby loves spicy hot food so he ate it.
I remembered from the times before that one package of cut butternut squash is about 6 cups of squash and that is what the recipe calls for. With Thanksgiving coming I thought that we could just eat it all week if I doubled it. I am fortunate in that my hubby doesn’t mind eating the same thing over and over. So my plan was to make a double batch. But my plan was also to not follow the recipe exactly.
Before I had made it the very first time, I had read the reviews and I believed what the majority of them said so I was already adapting, but I was even thinking of more modifications. The problem is I don’t always know what I am going to do until I do it. As I am cooking an idea will pop into my head and then I don’t always remember what I did when it comes out great. I thought to write as I cooked but I didn’t.
After I sat down to eat it though I decided I had to make note of what I did because to me and for me, this is the best batch I have made and I want to make it EXACTLY like this from now on. Please excuse me for being brand specific. Normally I like to be more Rachel Ray than Martha Stewart, and I will say use whatever, but for me, I am going to use these exactly ingredients to make this soup. I really think that these particular flavors are what made it so yummy. But you of course are free to use the brands and flavors you like, but if you don’t want to lick the pot when you are done than it really might be the brands. 😉 I would have taken pictures of the cooking process had I thought I was going to post about this. 
I had thought NOT to post, but then after I ate it, I realized I HAD to post just so I would have record of it. The pictures of the products are after I fished the packages out of the garbage.
Butternut Squash Soup Adaptation
Two packages Trader Joe’s cut butternut squash (2 lbs each)
Olive oil spray
salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 box (32 oz) Trader Joe’s Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
4 packages Trader Joe’s Savory broth – chicken flavor
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp marjoram
6 turns of the smoked pepper pepper mill
two light sprinkles of cayenne pepper
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2-3 tablespoons of whipped cream cheese
Heat the oven to 450. Spread the squash on a pan or two, spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt. Roast the squash. The goal is to cook it until it is soft, but it is nice to have some of it browned. Roast for at least 30 minutes. Flip, stir, or shake so as to move the squash around a bit. Here is where you decide how roasted you want your squash.
Melt the butter in the stockpot, add the onions, and a little salt. Cook the onions until tender. Put the roasted squash in the pot, add the box of broth, add the water, add the contents of the broth packages, add the marjoram, add the pepper, sprinkle the cayenne. Bring to a boil.
Take the pot off the burner and blend the soup until smooth. (I use the immersion blender). Add the cream cheese. Stir. Blend until the cream cheese is full incorporated in the soup. Depending on how long it takes you to blend the soup and how hot you want to serve it. You might have to put it back on the stove.
This recipe makes a nice creamy squash-flavored soup. It is not sweet, but it is not spicy hot. If you like spicy hot you can add more pepper. The actually recipe on Allrecipes.com calls for a 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and a 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper. That is too hot for me. I just put a few twists and a sprinkle. The thing about making the pot mild is that people can add their own heat. My hubby sometimes adds hot sauce. But then sometimes he doesn’t. He can decide.
As with any recipe, of course, you can modify it as you want. But for me THIS IS IT! Also as with anything, I would love to hear what you think.
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