Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

On the evening that we first got our new handheld blender (my birthday) we didn’t have any fresh butternut squash in the house - but, really by chance, I had some frozen squash with which we whipped up some squash soup. That soup came out great, but I wanted to try the real thing - including roasting the squash first to bring out its earthy sweetness. M and I went pumpkin and mum hunting this past weekend, and we happened upon a little nursery that was selling all those items, plus some lovely butternut squash. We quickly scooped them up and brought them home with the hope of turning them into a fall soup.

As you know by now, we really make things to taste, so I can only give you approximate measurements, but as long as you don’t go overboard on anything, you could tailor this recipe to your liking!

I started out by peeling 1 large butternut squash, taking the seeds out of the belly and cutting it all up into 3/4-inch cubes. Onto a baking sheet with a bit of olive oil and into a 420 degree oven for 15 minutes, then give them a toss and throw in for another 10 minutes.



While the squash is roasting, fine dice 1 onion, and put that into your soup pot on medium heat with 1.5 tbs butter. While the onions are sweating, fine dice either 2-3 normal size carrots or about 12-15 baby carrots. Throw those in when you finish cutting. Now on to 2 ribs of celery really fine dice as these take awhile to cook, and throw them in the pot too! These veggies may take 15-20 minutes to really sweat down without burning. When they are all adequately tender, throw in your fork tender squash, 1/2-cup of cranberry apple cider (the tartness of the cider balances the sweetness of the squash and carrots – you could also just use apple juice or throw in a diced apple when you are cooking down the veggies) and pour in enough chicken stock to just cover the veggies (you can always add more stock later to thin it out)...

Let that come to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer for at least 15 minutes along with 1/4-tsp ground ginger, 1/4-tsp nutmeg, 1-tsp ground sage, 1 more tbs butter and some salt and pepper to taste.



After that has had time to get all happy, it’s time to turn to your trusty hand blender. Word of warning, once blending has begun, do not lift the blender above the surface of the soup unless you want an orange splattered kitchen! Turn it off first! And here we go...



The soup turned out a bit too thick after the initial puree, so we just added more stock and tasted to adjust the seasonings as it did need some more S & P. This soup is so filling, and it made enough for 8 bowlfuls! Roasting the butternut squash really is divine, but take my word for it, frozen would work too and no one would know!