Fennel & Carnival Squash Soup (with a kick)

As I have been lately, I took a recipe idea from another blogger and altered it to suit my purposes..

3-4 servings

1 carnival squash (hopefully from your FFTY Capay shipment!)
1 bulb fennel
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 stick butter
2-3 tsp good quality dry thyme
1 T chili flakes
1/2 C whiskey or sherry
2 qt vegetable or chicken stock, or half and some water
3/4 C milk
olive oil, salt, pepper
sour cream/creme fraiche (garnish)

Cut and seed the squash, coat in olive oil, salt, & pepper. Toss’er on a baking pan and roast it up at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Prep your other ingredients–mince the garlic, chop the fennel into slices, coat in olive oil, salt, pepper and put in baking dish without top (you will add this to the oven the last 15 minutes of the squash). Dice your onion, grab your spices.

In a soup pot, melt 1/2 stick butter. Add onions when melted, and salt & pepper. Once colored or softened, add the meat of the squash, fennel & garlic, thyme & chili flakes. Cook 1-2 minutes medium heat. Add the whiskey, cook until harsh alcohol smell is gone. Add the stock and simmer 20 minutes.

Toss it in lots into a food processor and puree until smooth. Return to soup pot, adjust seasonings & moisture using stock, water, milk. Use your brain on this one!

If you’re sensitive to heat from peppers, careful with that full 1 T! This turned out pretty toasty and delicious.