So, twice this “fall” (it’s been warm as a mother frick, so that’s accounts for the “) I’ve had this incredible soup from Panera, their squash soup.  Squash is happy.  Squash is a really pretty color.  And it screams fall.  However, not for no $7.00 like I was paying for it.  I’m a social worker who’s getting married in less than a year, I really don’t need to be spending that kind of money on a bowl of soup, how delish it is.

So I grabbed 4 small bags of frozen squash from the Super Target, and got started on a Crock Pot Creation that would mimic the soup I’d paid nearly ten bucks a few days earlier. Here’s how it turned out.

So here’s the recipe, especially if you’re in one of those places that actually gets a fall.

If you don’t have anything in your kitchen but Lean Cuisines (tsk, tsk, sodium watch!) head to the store and grab a few things.

• Curry Powder
• Rosemary
• Some decent black pepper.  Cracked is cool.
• Some salt.  I like big fat kosher salt.  Thank you, summer camp. 
• Veggie Stock (low sodium!) Like two of those cartons should be good. 
• A few bags of frozen squash OR if you have some extra chop time, some butternut squashes (can you make squash plural like that?)
• Heavy Cream (it’s next to the milk)
• A medium onion.

Now, you’re ready to crock.

• Chop, then sauté a medium onion in an oil.  I used butter, but you can make it a little lighter with some olive oil, or a light butter, if you’re watching the saturated fat.
• Throw a few bags of frozen squash into your crock pot.  If you have fresh, chop it, then throw it in.
• Throw those onions with oil into the crock pot.
• Thow in a tsp of rosemary
• For a little warmth, throw in a spoonful of curry powder
• Throw in a cup and a half of heavy cream.  Cut it with some water if the cream seems a little fatty to you.
• Pour your veggie stock over the mixture, til your crock is pretty full, but leave a little room for it to simmer toward the end.  There’s nothing worse than cleaning burnt mixture out of your crock pot.
• Add a tad bit of pepper, and only a teeny bit of salt.  You can add more to taste, but you don’t want to oversalt, especially in the crock pot.  It’s really annoying to fix.
• Crock it for 10 hours.
• This is the only weird part of the recipe.  When you get ready, spoon however much you want into a bowl.  Pour the entire mixture into the blender, and purée it so all the chunky squash is like, creamy and stuff. 
• Most important part.  Eat it.  Make sure to casually bring up in conversation how you made this in the crock pot and you’re so domestical and stuff.  Very key.

Random and disturbing observation.

I think Panera must put food coloring in their version of this soup, because it’s always been slightly more orange than what I’m comfortable with.  Also, mine was not so orange.  For the love of God, why color a SOUP?!

Anyhoo,

Let me know how yours turns out, folks!