Now that fall is here, the leaves are turning orange and so is the soup. Butternut squash soup is  a new fall favorite for some people, especially with its appearance in Panera Bread’s fall menu.

Charles A. Leggett created the butternut squash in the mid 1940s in Stow, Massachusetts. Although Leggett was not a farmer, he crossbred the Gooseneck squash with a variety of other types of squash.

According to Apple Country Living, Leggett had bought a house in the  30s because his father was sick. Leggett’s wife said that the doctor recommended that Leggett spend more time outdoors.

He did not want to leave his property barren and also wanted to make some money, which sparked the creation of the butternut squash.

Butternut squash might be sweet, but this butternut squash soup will be on the salty side.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash (4 cups of butternut squash, with skin, cubed)

6 cups of water

2 tbsp cilantro minced

4-5 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 a medium onion minced

Salt and black paper (for taste)

First, chop the butternut squash into approximately one-inch cubes. The cubes can be a little smaller than an inch—the smaller the cubes are the faster they will cook down in the pot.

Add the water to the pot and start boiling on medium heat.

The tricky part of this recipe is that it is strongly based on sight and taste, so make sure to monitor the soup as it cooks.

As the soup cooks, the squash is going to melt and blend with the water. Once it has melted, stir the mixture gently once or twice to make sure the squash and water mix properly. If the soup is thicker than desired, add  some more water.

Then, season to taste with the cilantro, garlic, onion, salt and black pepper—add some of each into the soup as it cooks and then taste it. Add more if necessary.

Letting the squash cook down is one way of making this soup.

If you want the soup to have the consistency of a puree, pour the soup into a blender after it is has cooked and blend the soup.

Be careful when doing this, since the soup is still hot.

The butternut squash soup at Panera is one of my favorite soups. If you have not tried it yet I highly suggest it. It is sweeter than this recipe and it is more of a puree, but it tastes great, especially with bread.

If you have tried Panera’s soup and want to try out a new butternut squash soup flavor, this recipe is also great.

It is a simple recipe that my mom would make while I was growing up. It is also pretty hearty,  especially once the weather gets colder.

If you want to get fancy and garnish the soup, you can add some cooked pumpkin seeds like they do at Panera.

Now that it is cooked, let it cool, pour out and enjoy.