best soup ever?

Sunday night.  Nic in bed.  Clean house.  Kier & big glass of wine.  Relax.

That about sums up my night!  Although relax can mean so so many different things.  Tonight, my relaxation was making up about 10 gallons of possibly the best soup ever.  Last week, I whipped up a batch of this soup in order to use some acorn squash from my grandparent's farm.  It was OH.SO.AMAZING.  Ask Nic...he will tell you how AWESOME it was.  Today, I saw this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's site.  Looks good, right?

Well, a trip to Hy-Vee to buy up a variety of squash, a squash shower, and one messy kitchen later - seriously, it looks like a tornado went through (but when doesn't it when I cook?!), I think I have come up with the best soup ever.  Below I am going to attempt to capture the recipe for this amazingly tasty & healthy soup (until you add the heavy cream).  Lets all take a moment to remember how I cook - a little of this, a ton of garlic, and oh - how about this...I am not a follower of recipes.  Much to Maddie's chagrin.

Possibly the Best Soup Ever:

BEFORE you make the soup:
1 - Heat oven to 375 degrees
2 - Slice in half 4 squash, a variety will do.  I used a buttercup, 2 acorn, and 1 other kind...
3 - Brush with olive oil & sprinkle with pepper
4 - If you have an awesome friend named Laurie who gave you a bag of peppers, wash those.
5 - Place squash and peppers on foil lined pan & roast for 1 hour, or until squash is soft.
6 - Cool & scoop out the innards.  Peel the skin off the peppers.  Set all aside.
(if you didn't want to roast the squash and peppers, you could add them to the soup when you add in the potatoes, apples and carrots)

For the Soup:
1 - in a LARGE stockpot (if you cook for an army like me!), heat 2T olive oil and 2T butter until hot.
2 - Add 3 chopped leeks, 3 chopped onions & 1 head garlic - smashed.  SEE I TOLD you I like garlic!
3 - Saute until soft and caramelized slightly.
4 - Deglaze with 1/4 to 1/2 cup pinot grigio.  I drank too much prior to making this soup...
5 - Add 10 chopped carrots, 3 chopped sweet potatoes, 3 chopped honey crisp apples.
6 - Add 4 quarts chicken stock & bring to boil.  Boil until veggies are soft.
7 - Add squash and peppers to the pot.
8 - If you have awesome friends named Ben & Debbie who gave you an immersion blender when they moved to Alaska (sniff sniff) grab that and blend the heck out of the soup.
9 - OR if you made way too much, grab your regular blender and blend the soup in batches.  Make sure to hold the lid down with a towel, and be ready for a possible squash shower.  (Although, I hear they are great for the skin!)
10 - Season with salt and pepper (I used white pepper) to taste.
11 - Add in 1/4 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you like things.  Can also use hot sauce.
12 - Add 3T or more of curry powder, if you like that flavor.
13 - a dash of nutmeg and you should be about ready to eat!

We we had the similar soup last week, I added about 2T of cream to each bowl of soup which made it taste just perfect.  However, this soup is delicious and creamy without the cream - so adding that is your call.  You could also add in a spoonful of sour cream or yogurt if desired.

I am glad I am getting this down - although I am pretty sure I won't have to make this soup for another year I have so much!