Butternut Squash makes a rich and creamy soup, but sometimes it’s too sweet. In this lemon juice and spinach help offset the sweetness, and there are no sweet spices.
Heat the oven to 400. Cut one butternut squash in half lengthwise. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper (helps with clean up), place the squash face down on it and bake until it is bubbly, brown around the edges, and completely soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Meanwhile,remove the leaves from 1 large, 2 medium or 3 small leeks. Cut in half from top to bottom, and wash thoroughly. Cut the leeks in half rounds, then dice those.
Melt 1 T. butter with 2 T. olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the leeks and saute on low heat with lots of black pepper and some red pepper flakes (optional).
Wash and dice 1 carrot and add to the pot with the leeks, then saute for 10 minutes.
Add 1-2 minced cloves of garlic, saute another minute or two, then add 6 C. vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
When the squash is cool enough to touch, remove the seeds and pulp from the seed cavity as well as the skin. Add 6 C. cooked squash to the soup, stirring it well to combine.
Simmer the soup for at least half an hour, adding salt and more pepper to taste. Puree with a hand blender if you like it extra creamy.
Meanwhile, soak and drain 1/2 lb. of Spinach until the rinse water is clear. Spin dry. If the leaves seem too big, you can tear them up a bit.
Add the juice of 1 lemon to the soup and stir in. Then turn the soup off and add the spinach in handfuls, stirring in.
Serve the soup with lemon wedges.