a simple butternut squash soup

and a kitchen reno update!

Hi friends!

It’s the first week in October and we just had our first frost here in the Hudson Valley - so it feels like the perfect time to share my first soup recipe of the season. It’s also a big week around here - our kitchen is getting torn out tomorrow and the renovation is officially beginning. I’d like to say I’ve got it all figured out, because I certainly had enough time to, but as happens in life, things came up, and here we are a day away from demo with so many decisions left to make.

I’m going to be sharing a lot of updates here and on Instagram as everything comes together, and I hope you’ll follow along (and please feel free to weigh in!!) This summer I asked for kitchen renovation advice and I’m working on compiling all the wonderful responses I received into a fun Substack post- so stay tuned for that, too.

In the meantime, I’m excited to share this last recipe I created in the ‘old’ kitchen- I think it will always have a special place in my heart for that reason!

As a professional recipe developer, I’m always on the hunt for new ideas and ways to recreate or riff on familiar dishes. It’s one of the most fun parts of my job. At the same time, I think we can always use updated recipes for the classics - not a trendy take on them, but a really trusty, delicious version that we turn to again and again.

With that in mind, I wanted to share this recipe for a delightfully simple butternut squash soup. It’s flavored with a little bit of maple syrup and nutmeg, which help bring out the squash’s sweetness, along with a pinch of cayenne for a hint of heat. And finally, I top the soup with a quick brown butter fried sage topping - because there’s nothing more classic (and crowd-pleasing!) than the combination of squash, brown butter and sage. It takes all of 3 minutes to make and gives the soup the most incredible nutty aroma and richness. The topping makes this soup special enough to serve to family and friends, but still familiar and comforting, as a good soup should be.

An immersion blender is key here. It saves you the trouble of having to transfer steaming hot soup to a blender and there’s something just so satisfying about blending everything right in the pot. Here’s the one I’ve had for years and highly recommend.

Last weekend I made this soup for lunch, alongside grilled cheese sandwiches, and again, I was reminded that so often, the best foods are the ones we already know and love. A good recipe can make an old favorite feel new again, and if you’re a fan of butternut squash soup, I hope this gets you excited to whip up a batch this fall.

As always, I’d love to hear from you if you give this recipe a try. Leave me a comment below, and let me know what you think! Happy fall, and happy cooking!

xoxo

Lidey

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter & Sage

makes 4 to 6 servings / 1 ½ quarts soup