Simple and Delicious Butternut Squash Soup

I know it's not everyone's favorite food, but I LOVE SQUASH. It's delicious roasted; in lasagna; and especially amazing in soup!

It's been a while since we've had butternut squash soup - probably a good two years! I was so excited to see that my mom put together a fresh batch to share with us this past weekend. I had a bowl at her house and two bowls the next day; it didn't take long for me to realize the squash I purchased earlier in the week to roast was going to have to be soup instead.

My mom sent me the recipe she used from All Recipes; it was a GREAT version and I would totally have made it just like she did - except - I needed it to be less fuss.  I am not against fussy recipes, but today I probably could have taken a nap if I just blinked long enough. So tired.

I needed to make the soup plus another dinner for the rest of our family. So, here's what I did. It was an amazing and tasty alternative. I can't wait to finish off the leftovers tomorrow. Even my non-soup-eating husband enjoyed a serving of this recipe.

Here's the scoop (or would that be ladle?).

What you need:

• Butternut squash. I used 2lbs, pre-cut, from Costco. 
• 1 rib of celery, diced
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1-2 handfuls of baby carrots.
• Sea salt and pepper to taste. Heavy on the pepper, if you please!
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1-1.5 cups of water

What you do: 

• In a skillet, sauté the celery and onion (seasoned with s&p) until translucent. 
• In a sauce pot, coat the squash and carrots with EVOO, salt, pepper and start sauteeing.
• Once all veggies are tender,  combine in sauce pot and add water. 
• After everything is broken down and flavors have combined, drain off any water that seems excessive (there may be none) and transfer soup to a blender to smooth out. 
• I used my Blend Tec 570 on a slow speed so I could watch the consistency as I went along.
• Transfer back to stock pot and serve or cool slightly and store for later. 

Also? Here's what I had for dessert. It's like a faux ice cream sundae. Ice cream cone, fruit and a few chocolate chips with a sugar cone on the side. It has many of the flavors you want, with less guilt. 

So, that's it for today! Hope you are brave enough to try this tasty soup. If you like potato soup, chances are you'll like this, too.

Good luck and comment with questions if you have any. :)