Nothing celebrates autumn like nice butternut squash soup. When you're serving a nice dinner for guests, you can certainly wow them with a rich and velvety starter of this soup. I made this exact soup for Thanksgiving, and it was a five-minute conversation around the table.

This recipe serves 15 people.

Ingredients:
2 small butternut squashes
1 medium onion julienned
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup Marsala wine
few tablespoons of olive oil
few cracks of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg ground
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
salt to taste
2 cup cream
2 cup hearty chicken stock
extra liquid if soup is too thick

Procedure:
Half squash and remove seeds. Coat with olive oil and roast skin-up in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until extremely soft and skin is caramelized. Cool and peel squash. Cut into large chunks.
Heat a heavy-bottom pot on medium high. Add olive oil and bring to near smoking point. Add julienned onions and sautee until throughly caramelized (not burnt). Add garlic and stir through. Deglaze pan with Marsala wine and reduce liquid by half.
Add squash chunks to pan and add nutmeg, curry, and cinnamon. Add stock and 3/4 of the cream. Simmer for 10 min, stirring regularly.
Now you must puree the soup. The best option is using an immersion blender-buzz until smooth. If you don't have that you can transfer to a conventional blender. You may need to blend it in halves though. (Note: be careful when blending hot liquids, as they tend to explode. Remove cap from blender top and cover top firmly with towel when blending. Starting the blending slowly also helps mitigate the exploding of hot liquids all over the place. This will help relieve the pressure that causes explosions.) You can use a food processor as well.
Return smooth liquid to pot and simmer for a few minutes, as you adjust seasoning and liquid content. Add last bit of cream right before you serve.

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