Aspiring Elephant

If there was ever a dish that summed up all the wonder that is fall, it would be butternut squash soup. It quite literally tastes like fall just fell into your mouth – and that is by no means a bad thing. The soothing, velvety taste of butternut squash, potato, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, cinnamon and nutmeg join forces to create a dish so comforting, yet light and flavorful that’s it’s almost hard to believe it’s actually healthy. Here’s how I make a quite lovely, if I do say so myself, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

The beauty of Butternut Squash

Most people would look at this oddly shaped gourd-like thing that just shows up in our grocery stores during fall and say, “ah yes, a weird shaped vegetable”, but no. Butternut squash is actually a fruit! Oh you knew that? Yea, I did too…(side eye).

One of the beautiful things about butternut squash is its versatility. They can be used to make pasta, soups, roasts, it goes on and on. They can be boiled and mashed, roasted, grilled, fried, blitzed, once again the list goes on. With so many different ways of preparing this tasty, nutritious FRUIT, you can’t go wrong.

The positives of butternut squash do not end there. On top of them being delicious, they are also ridiculously healthy! They are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants that make them a member of the all hailed “superfood” club.

Ingredients

• 3 lb butternut squash
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 small shallots
• 2 carrots
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 russet potatoes
• 2 celery stalks
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme

How to Make Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Like all of my recipes there’s always a couple different ways they can be created. This one is no different. I try to do things differently from what I see on the internet, add a little trial and error, and I believe I come up with some good stuff. For one – how to prepare the vegetables (and fruit!). I chose to go with a hybrid method of roasting the butternut squash, then opting to sauté the onions, potatoes, celery, and carrots, then allowing them to simmer in broth. Here’s what I did:

Preparing the Butternut Squash

To start things off, you will need one large weird shaped butternut squash, which shouldn’t be hard to find, because I find them all to be weird. Carefully, using a sharp knife, cut the top off, then proceed to slice right down the middle (vertically). A good chef’s knife is an invaluable tool in the kitchen. The one I use can be purchased at William’s Sonoma for a little under $200. Yes, I agree, it’s a bit steep, but it’s a quality knife that will last a while if taken care of properly. The Shun Hikari 8” Chef’s Knife a wonderful option for those who take cooking semi-seriously and want something that will slice through things like butter.

I find roasting butternut squash produces the best overall flavor. How you go about roasting it is up to you. Another option here is to cube it, which will help the butternut squash cook more evenly; however, I just like the aesthetics of roasting it whole. Either way is fine. Using a spoon, scrape out the seed pod on both sides. At the same time, go ahead and slice the open a head of garlic. It’s best to cut the smaller, more rounded side, so it can lay flat on the pan. Lay both sides of the butternut squash and sliced head of garlic on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Then for some added sweetness, add about 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 40-55 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. Use a fork to determine when the butternut squash is ready. You should be able to easily pierce the flesh.

The Vegetables

Next we need to prepare the vegetables. Peel two potatoes and dice them into 1 inch cubes. Peel two carrots and also chop those into 1-2 inch pieces. Chop 3 small shallots to 1 inch pieces. Lastly, chop two stalks of celery. Add 1 tbsp of butter (or olive oil) to a dutch oven or deep pan over medium heat, then add everything in. Allow it to develop a little bit of color. Season with salt and pepper to taste. After about 5 minutes or so, add in 3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth. I also like to add a few fresh thyme leaves for an earthy taste. Simmer on low for 25 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

Bringing it all together

Once the butternut squash is fork tender, take it out and let cool for a few minutes. Just a warning, it’s going to be hot, very hot. I recommend using a pair of kitchen gloves if you have them, they will making handling the butternut squash much easier. Using a spoon, scrape out the butternut squash and place into a large bowl. Then squeeze out the garlic into the same bowl.

I try to create recipes that don’t require special equipment; however, this one is going to require some hardware. That hardware being a food processor. I like to use the Ninja® Professional XL Food Processor. This thing is a total workhorse and will liquify anything that dares to enter it’s bowl.

Add the butternut squash and garlic to the food processor, followed by the potatoes, carrots, celery, and shallots, which by this point should be nice and soft. Make sure to also include the broth as that will help with consistency of the soup.

Blend everything on high for about 3-5 minutes. Pulse and check the process as you go until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

The garnish

I try to keep things pretty simple when it comes to garnishing dishes. For this we’re just going to use a little heavy cream that’s infused with cinnamon and nutmeg, then lightly toast some pine nuts to finish it all off.

Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a small pot and bring to a simmer over low heat. Add in 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. Mix to combine. Allow the milk to slowly simmer to really bring out the flavor of the spices.

In a small pan, add 1/2 cup of raw pine nuts and sautéed over low-medium heat. Be careful as the pine nuts don’t take much to burn. Move the pan around to keep the nuts constantly moving to ensure even toasting.

The absolute last thing we’ll do it chop up some fresh parsley and pull off thyme leaves from the stem. Pour your soup into a bowl, give it a drizzle of cream, top with parsley and pine nuts and you have not only a delicious meal, but a rather beautiful one as well. Hope you enjoy!