Every week I take a look in my fridge and see what may have slipped into the back and been forgotten. To me leftovers don't just mean the remains of a cooked meal, but also any uncooked items that are 'left over' from other recipes. Then I try to come up with a recipe using up most of the secret ingredients. It makes me feel like an Iron Chef to whip up something tasty from my forgotten foods.

This week I found two butternut squashes, three apples, a few garlic cloves, and some carrots. There was also half a bottle of decent chardonnay that some visitors had left last weekend which had started to go flat tasting. All in all these looked like the perfect ingredients to make a rich and creamy, mid-winter soup.

This recipe can be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water, and the butter can be replaced with vegetable oil or omitted completely, although it does improve the soup dramatically. Feel free to change any ingredients that you want.
The first thing you need to do is roast the Butternut Squash.

Roasted Butternut Squash
Cut the squash in half, remove seeds and fibers with a spoon and discard. Put 2 tablespoons of melted butter or vegetable oil in a baking dish, lay the squash in the dish cut side down and bake at 350F for one hour. Let squash cool and remove squash flesh with a spoon and reserve for soup and other uses.

Ingredients

• 48 oz. can of Chicken Broth
• 3 Gala apples- peeled and cored, rough chopped
• 2 medium to large Sweet Onions- rough chopped
• 3 Carrots- rough chopped
• 2 roasted Butternut Squash (see recipe below)
• 2 cups of White Wine (or Red if you wish)
• 2 fat cloves of Garlic
• 2 tablespoons of Ketchup or Tomato Paste
• 1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of any one of the following: Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano, Chili Pepper, fresh ground Nutmeg, or any other spice or herb that you like.
  
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
• Salt to taste

Recipe
Throw all the ingredients into an 8 quart stock pot and bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 30 minutes or until all ingredients are fully cooked.
Add two tablespoons of butter to the soup and puree with an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender or food processor) until satiny smooth.
Add salt to taste and serve.