Roasted butternut squash soup

There was no CSA delivery last week, so I was able to finally catch up on my egg and vegetable consumption. To really clinch things, last night I made roasted butternut squash soup, which significantly reduced the number of root veggies hanging about on my counter. It's another CSA recipe, so here's the whole thing:

• 4 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (I used one large and two small squash, but the recipe suggests two 2 lb. squash.
• 1 12-ounce celery root (celeriac), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 8-ounce sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 large white onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 12 large sage leaves
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 tsp. kosher salt (divided)
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth (you could use veggie stock to make this dish vegetarian)
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup half and half (you could omit this entirely to make this dish vegan)

Garnish:

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 16 sage leaves
• 8 oz. shallots, halved lengthwise and cut into strips
• 1 tbsp. sugar (I omitted)
• 1 cup seasoned croutons (I omitted, but Dave later said he would have liked these)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a roasting pan (you may need two), mix squash, celery root, sweet potato, onion, sage leaves, oil, two teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Roast, stirring two or three times, for 55 minutes, or until tender.

(I had to use a roasting pan and a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.)

In a food processor, in batches, puree squash mixture, blending some broth and water into each batch, until smooth. Pour into a Dutch oven (i.e., a large pot). Stir in remaining 2 tsp. salt, broth, water, and the half-and-half.

Garnish: Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add sage leaves and cook, turning once, until leaves are crisp, about 1-2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add shallots to the skillet and cook, stirring, until tender and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. (I stopped here.) Sprinkle with sugar, cook, turning shallots until caramelized, with a medium-brown glaze, 3-4 minutes.

I aimed to turn my veggies twice, so I timed the turns at 20 minutes, and then another 20 minutes, leaving 15 minutes left on the clock to make the garnish before the veggies were done roasting. It worked out just fine.

To serve: Ladle into 8 soup bowls. Top with croutons, shallots, and fried sage leaves.

Pretty awesome stuff! I'm not even really a fan of butternut squash, but I usually like soups that are savory, like this one, so it was still pretty tasty. The onion and celeriac provide a nice base flavoring, too. Dave actually thought this soup was a little bland, although I thought it was flavorful (in a muted sort of way). Next time I might add some chili powder, curry powder, cumin, or paprika to spice things up!