Spiced Butternut Squash & Apple Soup with Crème Fraiche- serves 6

Ingredients
1 butternut squash about 2 pounds
1 tablespoon of butter
1 leek (white party only)-small diced
1 onion-small diced
3 apples-peeled, cored and small diced (Golden Delicious are recommended)
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups of water
½ teaspoon of allspice
½ teaspoon of ground clove
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of heavy cream or half and half
squeeze of lemon juice
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
crème fraiche for garnish-optional
chives for garnish-optional


Procedure
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top and bottom off of the butternut squash and peel. Slice lengthwise and remove the seeds by scraping with a spoon. Cut the squash into 1" inch pieces. Place in a roasting pan and fill 1½ cups of water. Cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven for about 35 minutes until fork tender. Place butter in a large pot over high heat with onion, leek and apples and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except crème fraiche & chives and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. When the squash is tender, place into the soup pot and using a hand blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add more water if needed to achieve the desired consistency. Place in soup bowls and garnish with a dollop of crème fraich and snipped chives.

*Note: Many grocery stores carry bags of peeled and cut butternut squash in the produce section. This saves more time because you won't have to peel or seed the squash. You can substitute squash with yams, sweet potatoes or parsnips.

Sour cream can be replaced for crème fraiche. You can garnish the soup with toasted almonds or roasted chestnuts, which adds a great texture to the soup.