Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese

Happy Gillis has some sort of famous Butternut Squash soup that everyone says is really wonderful. I keep going there and hoping to get to try it but every time I go it's not the soup that day! I finally realized that the universe may be plotting against me and I thought I would try to make up something like what I can only imagine this soup tastes like because I will never get to try it.

On a related note, Dave and I realized recently that our diet has taken a turn for the less healthy. We decided we need to get back on track with eating habits that don't invite congestive heart failure. That being the case, I not only planned to make this soup, but I made it in as healthy a way as possible and I think I was successful all around! I don't even think you have to like butternut squash to appreciate this soup. You might have to like goat cheese though.

Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves - minced
1 large onion - coarsely chopped
2 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 oz (1/2 pkg) Neufchatel
Goat cheese to garnish - I suggest lots!

Instructions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the butternut squash, chicken broth, lemon juice, paprika and cayenne pepper and simmer for 20 minutes until the squash is tender.

2. Remove soup from heat and let it cool slightly. Puree it in batches, adding a little of the Neufchatel cheese into each batch before pureeing. Return the soup to the stock pot and reheat it over medium heat, do not allow it to boil. Serve the soup with goat cheese sprinkled on top. Once you stir it in, it becomes marbled with goat cheese and it's pretty much the best ever.