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Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Smoked Cheddar

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The smoked cheddar makes this recipe!
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Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Smoked Cheddar

  • make ahead MAKE-AHEAD
ACTIVE TIME: 35 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 25 MIN
SERVES: 4
"Butternut squash and apples come into season around the same time in Vermont," Silansky says, "and they go so well together." But this soup’s key ingredient is its smoked-cheddar garnish. Silansky gets his cheese from Grafton Village Cheese Company, a local producer with national distribution that cold-smokes aged cheddar over a maple-wood fire.
ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 3/4 cup apple cider
  • One 1 3/4-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice (5 1/4 cups)
  • 4 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 McIntosh apple, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 1/3 cup coarsely shredded smoked cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
  • One-inch pieces of chives or thinly sliced sage leaves, for garnish
directions
  1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the apple cider and cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Add the butternut squash and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the squash is very tender, about 40 minutes.
  2. In a blender, puree the soup in batches. Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
  3. Heat a medium skillet. Add the butter and diced apple and cook over high heat until the apple is tender and golden around the edges, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  4. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls; garnish with the smoked cheddar, sautéed apples and chives; serve.

MAKE AHEAD The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Reheat before garnishing with the cheddar, apples and chives.

WINE There’s no better pairing for this appley soup than a sweet and tangy artisanal cider from one of Vermont’s producers, which over the past decade have been restoring New England’s centuries-old cider-making traditions. Look for the pale gold, lightly sweet Original Sin or the fruitier, richer Woodchuck Amber Draft. Alternatively, pour a firm white from California’s Mendocino County, such as Bonterra’s apple-and-pear-inflected 2005 Roussanne.

Recipe by Jeremy Silansky
From How to Eat Like a Locavore
This recipe originally appeared in February, 2007.