Butternut Squash Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 (12 ounce) packages frozen butternut squash, thawed or 3 lbs fresh butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 (32 ounce) container fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• sour cream (for garnish)
• ground red pepper (for garnish)

Recipe

• 1 cook bacon slices in large pot until crisp.
• 2 remove bacon and drain.
• 3 reserve 2 tbsp drippings in pan.
• 4 crumble bacon and set aside.
• 5 saute onion and carrots in bacon drippings over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes (until onion is tender).
• 6 add celery and apple to pan and saute 5 minutes.
• 7 and garlic and saute 1 minute.
• 8 add squash and chicken broth.
• 9 bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.
• 10 process mixture, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• 11 (hot mixtures will erupt out of blender if too full- believe me i know).
• 12 return mixture to pot.
• 13 stir in lime juice and next 7 ingredients.
• 14 simmer for 7-10 minutes or until thickened.
• 15 top soup with crumbled bacon and garnish with sour cream and red pepper.