November is a perfect time to make up batches of your favourite soups on the weekend for quick weeknight suppers. My kousa trees are my signal it’s time to make soup. Every year, right about now, they turn into beautiful burnt orange sentries at my front door.
Something about that gorgeous colour makes me crave a bowl of squash soup. Filling by itself, roasted butternut squash soup also works well with a spinach and goat cheese salad and is downright foolproof. You can add just about any flavouring -try cinnamon or nutmeg if you don’t like ginger but that’s my pick for a complex flavour. If you prefer your soup chunky, skip the blender and serve it up after simmering. Experiment all you want. All you need are a few basics to start and a good Dutch oven or heavy pot.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
What you need:
- 7 cups cubed butternut squash ( I buy it already cut up and this is about 2 packages worth)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 7 cups chicken stock or low sodium broth
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/ 2 cup cream or milk
- sprigs of fresh parsley for garnish
What you do:
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Spread squash out on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then toss on sheet with spatula to ensure all pieces are covered.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Roast in oven for 50 minutes, turning pieces over once, half way through baking time.
- Meanwhile, caramelize the chopped onion by melting butter on medium heat and cooking the onion until soft, approximately 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add squash and toss to blend.
- Add chicken stock, ginger and thyme.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- Puree in blender or food processor.
- Return to pot and add cream, stirring to blend.
- Keep on low heat until soup is blended.
- Add more pepper or salt to taste.
Serve with sprigs of parsley. This soup can be kept in fridge up to 3 days.
Serves 6 as a main, 10 in small cups for an appetizer. If you want to dress it up, add homemade croutons or roasted pumpkin seeds.
Have Your Say