Q. I saw a recipe for Roasted Winter Squash Soup in a recent magazine and although I like the sound of it, the 1 1/2 sticks of butter rather turned me off. Can you whip up a light version of this soup in time for the holidays?

A. I like the sound of this soup too because it isn't just butternut squash that gets roasted and turned into soup, it's also carrots and onions (roasting the vegetables intensifies their natural flavors). The original recipe makes 24 servings, which partly explains the 1 1/2 sticks of butter. But even if you pare this down to 12 servings, there's still room to trim off extra calories and saturated fat.

For the light version, we will be roasting the carrots, onion and squash with 4 teaspoons of olive oil (the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons for 12 servings). And instead of 6 tablespoons of butter (half of the original amount because we are making 12 serving instead of 24), we will be using 2 tablespoons of whipped butter or less-fat margarine. Low-sodium chicken broth is used and a cup of whole milk or fat-free half-and-half is added to increase the creaminess of the soup. A dab of fat-free sour cream and some freshly chopped parsley polishes off this soup nicely along with freshly ground pepper (and salt if desired).

You make this soup a day ahead of when you will be serving it. Just cover well, store in the refrigerator and rewarm over medium heat.

Original recipe contains 230 calories, 12 grams fat, 6 grams saturated fat, and 25 milligrams cholesterol per serving.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Canola cooking spray

1 pound large carrots, cut into quarters lengthwise

2 large sweet onions, halved and sliced

4 teaspoons olive oil

5 pounds butternut squash (about 2 medium), halved lengthwise and seeded

2 tablespoons whipped butter

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup whole milk or fat-free half-and-half

Chopped fresh parsley

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Salt to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a nonstick jellyroll pan with canola cooking spray. Add carrot pieces, onions and olive oil to large bowl and toss to coat well.

Arrange squash halves, cut side up, on the prepared jellyroll pan. Divide the butter among the cavities of the squash halves. Place carrot and onion mixture on same pan.

Roast the vegetables in the oven until tender and golden (stir the carrot and onion mixture about every 30 minutes) — 1 hour to 90 minutes. Let the vegetables cool for about 20 minutes.

Scoop out the roasted squash flesh from the skins and add to a large food processor along with the carrots and onions. Puree this mixture until somewhat smooth. Place the puree in a large, nonstick saucepan and stir in the chicken broth and whole milk. Bring mixture to a simmer and allow to cook about 10 minutes. Spoon into serving bowls and top each serving with chopped fresh parsley and ground pepper (salt is optional).

Makes 10 servings.