Squash Soup

By maredan

Ingredients

• 4 * 4 pounds squash or pumpkin, seeded, cut into 1" chunks and peeled
• 1 * 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 * 6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• 1 * 1 medium onion
• * Water or stock, as needed
• 1 * 1 cup cream or milk
• * salt and pepper
• * pinch nutmeg
• 2 * About 2 Tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream (optional)
• 2 * About 2 Tbsp chopped chives (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Toss the squash chunks with the oil in a roasting pan, and bake until very soft, about an hour. Fry the bacon in a soup pot, remove to paper towel to drain, then crumble and set aside. In the same pot, with a spoonful of the bacon fat left in, gently sauté the onion until translucent.
2. When the squash chunks are cooked, add them to the pot with a little water or stock. Purée with a hand-held blender, adding more water if needed to make a thick soup. Stir in the cream, heat gently, taste, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Ladle the soup into bowls. Put a dollop of sour cream in each, sprinkle with the bacon and chives, grind over a little black pepper, and serve.