Recipe Monday

Every year, for the past 2 years or so, my sister's and I give my dad a very special Father's Day present. We host a special dinner for him, in which him and Phyllis get to invite 3 couples over for dinner one night, as Lauren, Blair & I are the chefs for the evening. This year we wanted to do a Fall themed dinner, so we held off the dinner until thiss cooler weather and fall foliage arrived. So, yesterday, we hosted his Father's Day dinner. The weather was a little cool for an actual evening dinner, so we asked the other couples to come over at 4 p.m. for appetizers then an early dinner at 5 p.m. We served a soup to start off with, of Butternut Squash Soup served in mini hollowed out pumpkins. It was my first time making Butternut Squash Soup, but it was OH SO GOOD!!
So, I felt the immediate need to share this recipe with everyone. It has a little kick but not too much.

Butternut Squash Soup
2 large Butternut Squash
3 garlic cloves
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
3 cups Chicken Broth (1 1/2 cans)
4 Tbsp Margarine
6 Tbsp chopped onion
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper (ground red pepper)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel Squash, and cut into large chunks (about the size of small limes) Put on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt & pepper on top. Add garlic cloves onto baking sheet in the middle of squash. Bake for about 45 minutes until tender. Saute onions and butter in large pot. Add squash, chicken broth, and seasonings to pot. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Add to blender or food processor in batches to puree until smooth. Transfer back to stock pot and keep warm. Do not allow to boil.
Enjoy!!

I'll wait until I get pictures from the rest of the dinner to post more details!