Butternut Squash Soup with Fontina Sage Crostini

I made no-knead spelt bread for three reasons this weekend: 1) because I looove bread dunked in EVOO, 2) to try out the new replacement knob and 3) to make crostini for this fabulous soup.

We’re not really soup people, but a friend made this for us about a month ago and it was good—damn good—and wicked filling. So we made it for ourselves and watched the snow outside as we ate our soup by the fire.

This recipe is adapted from Giada.

For the soup:

2 tbsp butter (at room temperature)

2 tbsp EVOO

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 big butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

6 cups low-sodium (or unsalted) chicken stock

¼ cup chopped fresh sage

For the crostini:

Sliced baguette (or no-knead spelt bread)

EVOO

Chopped fresh sage

Fontina cheese, grated

1. Add butter and EVOO to an 8-quart stockpot. Melt together over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft.

3. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.

4. Add squash and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add sage.

5. Continue to boil until the vegetables are tender (poke ‘em with a fork to test), 20-30 minutes.

6. Pour contents of stockpot into a blender (you may have to split it into batches) and blend until smooth.

7. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Arrange bread on baking sheet. Drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle with sage and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted, 6-8 minutes.