This thick delicious soup can be made with any kind of winter squash-butternut, hubbard, acorn, even pie pumpkins. It is also a great recipe to experiment with, adding favorite vegetables or spices. The basic recipe is as follows:

Prepare the squash. For butternut and acorn it is relatively simple to cut and peel raw. Cut into chunks, peel, scrape out seeds. These can go straight into the soup pot. (Remember the smaller you cut the pieces, the faster they will cook.) For tougher squash like hubbard, it is very difficult to deal with them raw. Split (if you can) and scoop out the seeds, otherwise, leave whole. Place the squash on a baking sheet and bake at 400˚ until easily pierced by a fork-about 1 hour. Let the squash cool, then scoop the flesh out of the skin. (If you baked the squash whole, now is the time to discard the seeds.)

Place squash in soup pot and cover with water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Chop and add one onion or two leeks, 2-3 cloves of garlic, and 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger. Let this cook at a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon.

The squash can either be pureed or cooked to pulp and smashed with a spoon. Both create delicious soup-the difference is in the cooking time and texture. (It is faster to puree and creates a smoother soup. However, the longer cooking time allows the flavor to develop more.)

Season with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Possible garnishes include a dot of butter, parsley, brown sugar, or toasted sunflower seeds.