Roasted pear delicata squash soup

So many squash, so little time.

Each year I reach a juggling point to manage competing food/storage demands. On the one hand I need to use up all the refrigerated goods I got from the farmers market (leeks, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, and inexplicably, turnips) before they go bad and so I can free up space for holiday foods. Ditto with the last arugula, kale and cabbage harvested from the garden, and the Vietnamese cilantro plant brought in under the grow lights starts to take a dive when the basement thermometer does.

Meanwhile there are all those onions, sweet/regular potatoes and squash on an orchard rack in the basement. I know full well that by January, the squash viability days are numbered, and squash squandering is unacceptable.

But at the same time, there were zillions of holiday baked goods to be made and stored in the same freezer space that soups would occupy ...

Somewhere in all this madness, I return to these tried-and-true soup recipes to help power through the squash. The turnips are on their own.

Roasted pear and delicata squash soup

Adapted from the Pear Bureau Northwest, www.usapears.org

Ingredients

2 pounds delicata squash (or butternut), halved lengthwise and seeded

2 pears, halved lengthwise and cored

Olive oil

4 cups broth, divided

½ cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Drizzle squash and pears with olive oil. Place cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until tender.

When cool enough to handle, scrape flesh out of pears and squash and put in a food processor or blender, discarding skins. Puree until smooth. Add a cup of broth and puree. Pour into a saucepan and add remaining broth, cream, sugar and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves 6.

Rating: This is possibly my favorite squash soup. It’s not as hearty as some of the other, thicker soups, but it’s got the more delicate, pleasing flavor. Makes a good first course soup, and definitely could work as a company dish with a decorative swirl of cream on top.

Expect a few more squash soup recipes this week.

Another squash soup recipe that's coming out to play this month:

Slow cooker squash soup 
I've blogged about this one here: