02 November 2012

Pureed Butternut Squash Soup

I made this out of some leftover cooked butternut squash so it was fast work. The squash broke down in the pan so I didn't puree it, but it was still super good. I usually add sugar to my butternut squash soup, but the orange juice made it sweet enough and the ginger was super tasty!

from Everyday Food (Martha Stewart for the common man)

2 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 3/4 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, chopped (1" cubes)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
salt and pepper
sour cream (optional)

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium. Cook onion 2 minutes; add ginger, garlic and squash and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender (20 minutes).

2. Puree soup in two batches. Stir in orange juice and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Season with pepper and serve with sour cream if desired.

Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe is from Once A Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg (so it goes without saying that you can freeze the part that you don't use).

Karen Eckardt gave this recipe an A+ and Ken called it "awesome." :) It's so good you don't need cheese on top!

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1 1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 12-oz can tomato paste*
3 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 cups water*
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. salt

In a large pot, cook and stir the sausage with the onion until meat is brown. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a boil; reduce heat. Partly cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes 12 cups sauce.

*I omitted the tomato paste and the water. It was still a good consistency though obviously made less - maybe more like 10 cups sauce.