WFD 9/3

Yesterday was a freezing cold "summer" day, so I made soup. I bought a butternut squash at the farmers market last week, hoping there would be a nice blustery day to use it for soup, and I lucked out! So, here is the recipe for the first soup:

Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
3 tablespoons butter
5 cups seeded, peeled, cubed butternut squash
1¼ cups chopped onion
½ cup chopped carrot
½ cup chopped celery
1 small granny smith apple, cored, peeled, and chopped
½ teaspoon ground allspice
3½ cups (or more) vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
1 cup whipping creamView full recipe

Melt butter in a large pot. Add squash, onion, carrot, and celery. Saute for about 10 minutes. Mix in apple and allspice. Add broth and cider and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and simmer about 30 minutes. Puree in batches and return to pot. Add more broth if too thick. Add ½ cup cream and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Ladel, drizzle with cream, and sprinkle with parsley.

Unfortunately, my husband doesn't share my love of butternut squash, so I made him chicken noodle soup. It's a Tyler Florence recipe that I found a few years ago, and it's really good. And it's not especially time consuming, particularly if you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken!

Chicken Noodle Soup
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
8 ounces dried wide egg noodles
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.