The recipe is from EatingWell In Season, EatingWell's recently-published cookbook based seasonal eating. The recipe is accessible on their website: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_pear_butternut_soup_with_crumbled_stilton.html
It seems that everyone who makes butternut squash soup has their own spin on it. This recipe is actually "Roasted Pear-Butternut Soup with Crumbled Stilton". In addition to the requisite squash, they throw in pears and a few other vegetables, then garnish with blue cheese.
The takeaways:
- Butternut squash soup = delicious. This recipe = really good.
- The recipe is extremely easy. Even though it does take over an hour total, most of that time is the vegetables roasting in the oven. The most difficult part is the chopping. I can definitely see myself throwing this soup together on a Sunday afternoon, then eating it all week, or perhaps freezing it for later (I also don't see a reason why this recipe couldn't be easily doubled so there's more to freeze).
- Blue cheese - I didn't use the Stilton called for in the recipe (wasn't in the grocery store), so I used a softer, sweeter blue, similar to a Gorgonzola. I'm not convinced I like the blue cheese on this because it was a bit overpowering. However, having the cheese did add a bit of variation and a nice contrast to spoonfuls without cheese. Add blue cheese to taste.
- I might roast at a higher temperature next time to see if I could get the vegetables more caramelized. Not that it wasn't delicious as is - it's more curiosity. I wonder if the flavors of the different vegetables could be brought out more.
- In the end, while I really enjoyed the soup and I will make it again, I felt like it was missing something. A bit of lemon juice or vinegar. Bacon. Maybe it just needed more salt.
