Chunky Butternut Squash Sage Soup

I bought butternut squash and sage, assuming there would be a great recipe out there that I could use them for. I found this recipe from Epicurious that looked easy enough, just:

– Sauté some shallots (I did a mix of shallot and onion) and chopped butternut squash in olive oil until the shallots are soft
– Add in some broth or water (I used water), a little brown sugar, a LOT of sage (I read some of the recipe reviews and many said to triple the sage, so really use as much as you want/have), and some salt
– Simmer covered until squash is soft
– Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and add more salt and pepper to taste

Sounds delicious, right? Except that it was pretty underwhelming (and several of the reviews said the same so I shouldn’t have been surprised). The squash was cooked inconsistently and really didn’t have much flavor, and the sage wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. So I asked a chef friend about it and he said, why not just make it into a soup? Which I did:

– Put it back in a pot and cover it with some sort of broth (for me, this meant leftover bean water, some red wine, some onion and garlic powder, and a little water – I need to make some real broth soon!!)
– Simmer until the squash is actually soft and the flavors meld
– Immersion blend as much or as little as you want – I ended up with a pretty thick, chunky bisque situation, which I was ultimately very happy with!