{Recipes} Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup

Soup season is upon us and have I got a good one to share with you today! My fellow soup-loving friend, Karen, gave me this recipe yesterday, and I loved the looks of it so much that I literally raced home and threw my kitchen into a tailspin to make it that same day :-} The butternut squash with the sweet potato made for a to-die-for combination, not to mention it was the perfect blend of creaminess. I'm thinking about adding it to my Thanksgiving menu...

Ingredients:
~ 2 tbsp olive oil
~ 1 cup onion, diced
~ 1 tbsp honey
~ 1 large butternut squash {2 1/4 - 2 1/2 pounds}
~ 1 medium sweet potato
~ 1 1/2 cups whole milk
~ 3 1/4 cups water
~ 1 tbsp butter
~ 2 tbsp creme fraiche {I substitued sour cream for this b/c quite frankly I had no idea what creme fraiche was}
~ S&P
*****Optional*****
~ 1 1/2 ounces smoked bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions:
1. Halve butternut squash lenghtwise, and scoop out seeds. Remove skin using a sharp knife. Cut flesh into 1-inch cubes.
2. Peel sweet potato and cut into 1-inch cubes.
3. Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent {about 3 minutes}.
4. Add squash and sweet potato and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in honey and cook for another 5 minutes. Add milk and water and bring to a simmer. Gently simmer until squash and potatoes are tender {about 30 minutes}.
5. WORKING IN BATCHES, transfer the soup to a blender and puree until completely smooth.
6. Pour soup back into stockpot and bring back up to a simmer. If the soup is too thick, loosen it with water {but so the soup has the consistency of heavy cream}.
7. Taste ~ adjust the seasoning with some salt, a generous amount of black pepper and a bit of honey, if needed.
8. Stir in butter and creme fraiche {or substitute with sour cream}. Turn off heat.
*****Just before serving, saute bacon over medium heat for about 4 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Stir in some creme fraiche and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Season with pepper. Add to soup. *****
9. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with warm country bread.

TIPS {From personal experience}:
~ Peeling the butternut squash is the most time consuming part {use a very sharp knife or strong vege peeler b/c it took me a while}
~ When transfering soup from stockpot to blender, puree in SMALL BATCHES {I had a mini explosion b/c I was trying to save time and put too much in the blender....lesson learned.
~ I added quite a bit of pepper to this {salt too and a little more honey} to get the taste just right. It tasted a little bland before the seasonings were added.
~ And I added a dallop of sour cream to my bowl of soup before eating b/c sour cream makes everything taste better :-}
~ The next time I make this soup, I will be adding the bacon...I think it will enhance the flavors even more!

ENJOY this perfect FALL soup!