food: Roasted Butternut Squash Carrot Ginger Soup

By request, here's my recipe from the other night,  cobbled together Frankenstein-style from several sources.  It turned out really well.

2 medium butternut squash, halved & cleaned
1 lb carrots, washed, peeled & chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tbs grated fresh ginger
2 cups chicken stock, 2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

optional:
1/4 cup heavy cream (or a bit more half and half or milk) for a silkier texture.

Roasting the squash:

Heat oven to 425.
Chop squash in half lengthwise, clean out guts with spoon.
Rub interior & exterior with 2 tbs melted butter, season well with salt & pepper & place faced down on
layer of tin foil laid in large rimmed baking sheet.  Poke a few holes in the skin  for ventilation, bake on middle rack until knife tender, around 45 minutes.  Let cool, flip over and scoop flesh into cooking pot with a spoon.

Saute the onions & carrots in about 2 tbs olive oil, butter or a combination of the two until softened, about ten minutes.  Add roasted squash, stock, water, ginger & seasoning.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until carrots are fairly mushy, about 20 minutes.

Here's where you either puree it in batches in your blender, or if you're a lucky sod like me with an immersion blender, just haul it out and mulch it up in the pot.  This is one kitchen gadget I recommend everyone own, they're amazingly useful.  The big brains over at America's Test Kitchen rate this one by Kalorik as their 'best buy'.

Mix in cream, if using.
Taste, adjust seasoning, serve with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Voila!