Squash & Pepper Soup

Okay, I'm going to try to get back in the saddle again, and get posting. The manure heap is still there in the driveway, taunting us. Maybe if it would stop raining we could get at it. On the other hand I did get another big project done. I am going to hold a party for my father who turns 75 in November, and his partner - they have been together for 30 years. I can't believe it took almost 2 full days just to get the invitations ready to mail out, but it did. I dropped them off at the post office yesterday afternoon. Hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!

Anyway, the soup. My mom made this, and I acquired the recipe from her. She thinks she got it out of a magazine, but now she can't find it. At any rate, it's a nice, straightforward soup. It makes a lot so you may wish to freeze some. It does freeze very well.

10 servings
2 hours - 45 minutes prep time


3 medium sized squash, of different varieties:
- butternut
- acorn
- potato

5 or 6 cups chicken stock
1 red shepard (or other red) pepper
the juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Cut the squashes in halves or quarters, and clean out the seeds. Brush them with oil, season with salt and pepper, and place them on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, at 400°F, until tender.

Scoop the cooked squash from the shells and add the flesh to the chicken stock, in a large soup pot. Stem and seed the pepper, chop it, and add it to the soup. Season with the nutmeg and lemon juice. (Actually, if I'd been making this, I'd have been tempted to put in a bit of thyme as well.) Simmer the soup for about 30 minutes, and let it cool a bit. Purée until fairly smooth, although a few bits of the red pepper should still be visible. Serve some hot, and freeze the rest, unless you are feeding a mob, or don't mind eating squash soup for a week.





Last year at this time I was Canning Tomato Sauce. Kind of late, really. We were all done with that 2 weeks ago this year.