Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon and Brandy
Nutty and sweet roasted butternut squash is complimented with the addition of brandy with it's fruity flavor with hints of oak and caramel. The finished soup is blended until silky smooth and served with salty and crispy crumbled bacon for a textural contrast.
Ingredients
- 3 pound butternut squash cut in half, seeds removed
- olive oil
- salt
- 4 strips bacon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 large or 2 small leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced in ½” rings
- 2 tablespoons chopped sage
- ⅓ cup brandy
- 32 ounces chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, plus more for garnish if desired
- salt and pepper to taste
- crème fraiche or sour cream for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush butternut squash halves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake in oven for 45 minutes until easily pierced with a fork.
- Meanwhile over medium heat, saute bacon in a soup pot or Dutch oven until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel to drain. Leave 1 tablespoon bacon fat in pot. Add butter and saute onions until translucent and starting to caramelize. Add chopped sage to mixture and continue to saute until sage is frizzled and fragrant. Add brandy and reduce by half. Remove pot from heat and reserve.
- Remove squash from the oven and allow to cool. Use a large spoon to scoop the butternut squash flesh into the pot along with the bay leaf and 4 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Transfer contents of pot to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. (Or leave in the soup pot and process using an immersion blender.) Transfer back to the soup pot and stir in heavy cream, maple syrup, sweet paprika and salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thin, add additional chicken stock until it is the desired consistency.
- Serve topped with reserved bacon, a sprinkle of paprika or a dollop of crème fraiche.