Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Today, I made another dish based on a recipe in Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook using left over ingredients. I had fun cooking this Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup because this was actually my first time making pureed soup - it's super easy and tasted fantastic!


Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of ghee
1 teaspoon cumin
1 big yellow onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, cubed
3 carrots, cubed
3 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
croutons
salt & pepper

Directions:

• Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed stockpot, add the onions, cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes until translucent.
• Add the cumin, butternut squash, carrot cubes and cook for another minute or two.
• Add the chicken (or vegetable) stock and a little bit of salt and maybe 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add more stock or water if needed enough to cover the squash and carrot cubes.
• Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, until both the squash and carrot are very tender.
• Let cool for 10 minutes or so and process the mixture in a food processor (or blender) in batches.
• Return to the pot, add the heavy cream, adjust seasoning and heat slowly.
• To make croutons: cube a couple slices of bread, put them in one layer in a preheated 350F oven and bake for 10 minutes or so until crunchy. It's more simple than sauteing them in a pan.
• Serve soup with a couple cracks of ground pepper and croutons.