Here it is - Acorn Squash and Apple Soup

This is the original recipe from my friend Jess:


It's for acorn squash, but I think 1.5-2 pounds of any orange-fleshed gourd will work--
It was great with the kabochkas.

I also think you could cut the saturated fat a bit by not using the half and half... The puree was pretty tasty before I put that in during the last step.

1 medium acorn squash (1.5-2 lbs)
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 medium tart cooking apples (I used granny smiths, and they held up really well)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
4 C chicken broth
1/2 C half and half
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 350.

Cut squash in half and remove seeds and fibers. Place squash, cut sides up, in rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Pour water into pan until 1/4 inch deep. Bake uncovered about 40 minutes or until tender. Cool; remove pulp and set asaide.

Slice onion. Melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion in butter 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Stir in apples, thyme, and basil. Good 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove 1 cup of the apples with a slotted spoon; set aside. In small batches, puree remaining apple mixture with pumpkin until it has all been pureed.

Return pureed mixture to saucepan. Add cup of apples that were set aside. Stir in half and half, nutmeg, salt and peper. Heat until hot, and serve!

6 servings
1 serving: 155 cals; 7g fat (4g saturated fat); 15 mg cholesterol; 910 mg sodium; 20g carbs (2g dietary fiber); 5g protein; diet exchanges: 2 vegetables, .5 fruit, 1.5 fat


Changes I made to Ingredients:
We didn't have any nutmeg (must have been all that holiday baking!), so I used a little cinnamon and ground ginger instead.  Why?  Because About.com told me to!  I also used skim milk instead of half and half, so we'll see how that turns out.  I'm also making fresh naan to eat with it!