Rosie Makes Baked Acorn Squash Soup.

Usually when I cook an acorn squash, I make a sweet dish that you could serve with ice cream and it would be delicious. I've also done a savory acorn squash with a corn pudding stuffing.

Today, I'm doing a rich, savory squash dish.

I sliced a piece off the bottom so the squash would balance in the baking dish and I cut a lid off the top. Cut off just a lid. Do not cut in half. We're making a soup in the squash bowl.

Scrape out all the seeds and pulp being careful not to scrap through the bottom since the squash itself is going to be the bowl for your soup.

Ingredients for my acorn squash soup: 1 acorn squash, cleaned 2 TB butter 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup panko about 1/4 cup diced 1/2 & 1/2 Fontina and Gruyere turkey (or chicken) stock to fill nutmeg salt and pepper

I almost browned my butter, then added in the chopped onion. I like the flavor of browned butter. It's more buttery than butter and deeper and richer than butter, and tastes nutty.

Cook onion until soft ...

... then add in the Panko, stirring until the butter is absorbed.

Thusly.

Grate a little nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

My little cubes of Gruyere and Fontina on the right.

I liked this picture of the cheese cubes falling into the onion/panko mixture.

Stuff the squash about 1/2 to 3/4 full with the mixture, saving a bit to sprinkle over top when the squash is done.

Don't fill the squash with the mixture.

Pour in turkey (or chicken) stock.

Do not fill all the way to the top.

Place the lid back on the squash and pour water in the baking dish.

And it's ready for a 400-degree oven for 60 minutes. Then I cut the temperature back to 350 and continued cooking for another 50 minutes.

After the first hour, I started checking for tenderness at 5-10 minute intervals.

Back into the oven.

Serenade going on in the utility room. My elephant ... She's faux.

After one hour and 50 minutes, my squash is nice and tender and the shell still maintains its shape.

Scrape the tender flesh into the center, being careful not to pierce the skin.

Keep scraping.

And scraping.

Yum. Melted cheese.

Finish with heavy cream.

At this point, a little freshly grated nutmeg would have been a nice touch. Just an afterthought. Maybe a sprinkling of brown sugar? And orange zest?

Top with leftover onion and panko mixture.

And a pat of buttah never hurt anyone. Would you look at the melted cheese on the rim?

Bon appetit!

This is rich. This is decadent. This is what I needed that night.