butternut squash soup + ham and cheese biscuits

'twas the night before thanksgiving...

Hi from New Orleans! So excited for today’s events and December 9th in Denver — and then the longest book tour of all time is officially OVER!

This week, I wanted to share a recipe that would be a perfect “cook now, eat whenever” meal for whenever you might need it this week, or over the next month. The type of meal that you can cook two days in advance, throw in the fridge (in the pot!), then keep warm on the stove over low heat for hours while people trickle in and out of the house.

Soup! Soup is always the answer for this scenario. Today, we’re making the most perfectly simple butternut squash soup inspired by the one in A New Way To Cook, brought to my attention by Alexandra’s Kitchen.

And for the dolts who won’t eat soup (my children), a ham and cheese croissant-inspired biscuit that is so so so so easy and so freakishly delicious will keep them happy. The biscuit can be baked in advance, stored in an airtight container in the fridge, and reheated in a 400°F oven for 5 minutes.

I love a pureed vegetable soup (tomato! butternut! carrot!), but I don’t love the lack of protein that leaves me hungry a few hours later. I’m not a counting-my-grams-of-protein girl (tried that, hated it, moved on), but I do try to get a decent amount of protein in at every meal. Enter: bone broth and cottage cheese. If you hate cottage cheese, I PROMISE YOU CANNOT TASTE IT. It’s perfect here. Just do it. Just trust me!

This would make an absolutely amazing night before Thanksgiving meal. Do you already have a night-before plan? What are you making?

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone. I hope you’re spending it with the people you love. I’m very thankful for every single one of you!

PS, I know some people hate butternut squash — if you’re one of ‘em, make my tomato soup (also high in protein!) with the ham and cheese biscuits. It’ll be a knockout.

What is bone broth?

Bone broth is a thick and nutrient-rich liquid made by simmering bones (and a bit of meat and veggies) in water for an extended period of time, extracting nutrients like protein, collagen, and minerals from the bones. Bone broth is a bit more expensive (because it’s more time-intensive to make — and also because it’s very trendy right now) than plain ole stock or broth, but it has more protein than the other two, so is a really great option for a pureed veggie soup that otherwise wouldn’t have much protein!

If you can’t find bone broth, you can use stock or broth! The three are interchangeable, just different flavors and levels of seasoning!

How to make flaky biscuits!

You’ll find detailed instructions in the recipe, but here’s a visual!

An immersion blender is an incredible low-cost, low-space-required tool to consider adding to your kitchen arsenal. If you like making soups or sauces, I highly recommend grabbing one! I’ve never heard of this brand but it’s $17 and has 8,000 5-star reviews. If you don’t have an immersion blender and don’t want one, you can definitely use your regular blender! You’ll just blend your soup in batches then stir it all together.

Earlier this week I went live on the Substack app with

Olivia Noceda

and

Sohla El-Waylly

to answer your pressing Thanksgiving feast questions! If you didn’t catch it, you can watch the recording of it here. It’s also available to listen to as a podcast on my currently defunct So Into That podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts. It was really fun if you need a car listen!

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Serves 6 to 8