I love butternut squash, and I love bread, and this recipe manages to get delicious bread-i-ness into a healthy squash soup. Perfect! It’s a historic recipe, shared by Old Sturbridge Village, which is fun. I believe they’re cooking in a pretty enormous pot over the fire, so you may need to halve the recipe to fit on your stove.

Ingredients:

• 3 onions
• 4-5 pounds butternut squash
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1/2 loaf of stale, crusty bread
• 2 quarts beef or chicken broth
• cayenne pepper
• salt
• additional butter or oil for frying bread

Peel and slice both onions and squash. Melt the butter in your largest pot, then add the onions and squash.

Cook until the squash is tender, stirring frequently. Add the broth and simmer until the squash and onions are very tender.

Meanwhile, grate 1 cup of bread crumbs from the loaf. Cut the remaining bread into cubes and fry in butter or oil, in batches if needed.

Just before serving, press the soup through a colander to puree. (To modernize further/simplify, you can use an immersion blender to smooth out the vegetable chunks.) Stir in the bread crumbs to thicken.

Add some salt and cayenne, to taste. Serve with a few pieces of fried bread on top of each bowl.

Gourd Soup

From Old Sturbridge Village.

• 3 onions
• 4-5 pounds butternut squash
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1/2 loaf of stale, crusty bread
• 2 quarts beef or chicken broth
• cayenne pepper
• salt
• additional butter or oil for frying bread

Peel and slice both onions and squash. Melt the butter in your largest pot, then add the onions and squash. Cook until the squash is tender, stirring frequently. Add the broth and simmer until the squash and onions are very tender. Meanwhile, grate 1 cup of bread crumbs from the loaf. Cut the remaining bread into cubes and fry in butter or oil, in batches if needed.

Just before serving, press the soup through a colander to puree, or puree with an immersion blender. Stir in the bread crumbs to thicken. Add some salt and cayenne, to taste. Serve with a few pieces of fried bread on top of each bowl.