Butternut Squash Soup with Italian Sausage

This recipe is adapted from Emeril; I like to use Italian turkey sausage but you can use regular Italian sausage if you like- either one will be delicious.

1 large butternut squash
2 T veg oil
1/2 lb Italian sausage (spicy or mild), crumbled and cooked
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh sage (if you like sage)
6 cups chicken stock
1 t cider vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400º. Bake the squash until very soft in the thickest part (about 45 minutes). Let cool and scoop out the squash stuff (getting rid of the seeds and stringy business).

In a large pot, heat the oil and cook the onions for about 6 minutes until soft; add the garlic and sage and cook for a minute or so. Add the chicken stock and squash and bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and vegeta (optional) or a good chicken bouillon. With an immersion blender, blend the soup until nice and smooth.  Add the sausage, cider vinegar and the cream. Heat through and adjust seasonings as needed. If you want to get fancy, you can fry up some sage leaves in butter and use them to garnish each bowl of soup.