Autumn Flavors: Squash Soup with Chipotle Sauce

The air is turning cooler and trees are starting to resemble living flames. The garden is being stripped of its final summer burst of produce and winter rye is planted. We also have a shelf full of squash to consume. To inaugurate our new apartment, my friend M came over to cook and "christen" the apartment for its soon to be many culinary adventures. We doubled this Epicurious recipe for a squash-sweet potato soup with a chipotle sauce that is drizzled over the top. Just fabulous.  Of course we tweaked it a little bit too ......

Squash-Sweet Potato Soup
3 lb squash (we used half acorn and half spaghetti squash, but you could use butternut, acorn, etc. - we roasted the acorn squash w/ olive oil and microwaved the spaghetti squash to cook it)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lb sweet potatoes (2 large), roasted in the oven with olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1-2 Tbs chopped ginger
8 to 10 cups veggie broth
1- 2 apples, peeled and cored, chopped
Pepper and salt to taste

1. Per the directions on the website, you need to cook the squash and sweet potatoes first.
2. Saute the onion and leek in olive oil. When almost done add in the ginger.
3. Add in the broth and apples, bring to a boil. Simmer until apples are tender. (You can reserve part of the broth until you know the soup is the consistency you want)
4. Add in squash, sweet potatoes, pepper and salt. Simmer 10 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender.
5. Serve in bowls, drizzled with chipotle sauce (see below)

Chipotle sauce
1 small yellow onion (or half of a large onion), chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried ancho chiles
1 chipotle chiles (canned or dried - we used canned)
2 c. water
2 Tbs toasted cumin seeds (or freshly ground cumin)

1. Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil until golden.
2. Add water, cumin, and chiles. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until dried chiles are tender.
3. Puree in a blender. Add water or spices as needed for right consistency/flavor.

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