butternut squash and sage soup with sage breadcrumbs

Ok, so here’s another butternut squash soup that you have to try. I think Joseph and I actually liked this one better than the last one. The sage is a really nice flavor and the breadcrumbs give it a little texture and a lot of richness. Possibly too much richness. I think I won’t add as much to mine next time because it was a little too rich for me. We used extra breadcrumbs on some delicious butternut squash tortellini we got from Whole Foods.

I love butternut squash soup and it’s so warm and satisfying on a cool fall night. It’s also pretty easy to make, the only holdup being that the squash itself is such a pain to deal with. It takes a bit of force to get your knife to make the first cut, even if you’ve just sharpened it and then you have to peel the thing. It’s totally worth it though!!

We decided that we would make our own bread (in the bread machine) for this and it came out moments before we were going to make the breadcrumbs, so we toasted the bread slices to remove excess moisture. The rest of the bread was pretty fantastic with the soup. I’m a big fan of forgoing the spoon and just using hunks of bread to sop up the soup.

Butternut Squash and Sage Soup with Sage Breadcrumbs #

Adapted from Epicurious

Serves 4-6

The breadcrumbs seem to add a fair amount of richness to the soup and the recipe makes quite a bit of leftovers. You could probably cut the breadcrumb recipe in half and be ok, or you can use excess to dust over butternut squash ravioli or tortellini. Yum!

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage*
4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled seeded butternut squash
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1 garlic clove, minced
5 to 6 cups chicken broth**

Breadcrumbs:
2 crustless slices fresh whole grain wheat bread, torn
4 teaspoons butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

For soup:
Melt butter the with the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, parsley, and sage and sauté until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the squash and carse salt and sauté until the squash softens and the onions are golden, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and stir about 1 minute. Add 5 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until squash is very soft, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, allowing some texture to remain (use a blender if you don’t have an immersion blender). You can thin the soup with more broth if you want. Season with pepper and more salt, if desired.

Note: Soup can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.

For breadcrumbs:
Place the bread in a food processor and blend until fine crumbs form but some slightly coarser crumbs remain. Cook the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and sage. Cook until the crumbs are crisp, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Note: Breadcrumbs can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature.

Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

*Joseph prepped all the sage for both the soup and breadcrumbs and I stupidly added the whole bowl to the soup. Or was it stupid? We thought it was pretty good, so if you want to up the ante, go ahead and add 5 teaspoons of sage to the soup.

**Use veggie broth to make vegetarian