I am a serious soup lover. A hot bowl of soup on a cold winter night is one of my favorite comfort foods. A smooth creamy soup can be just the thing to bring warmth and comfort, but those calories can get a little out of hand. I have just the fix, a rich creamy soup with no dairy and very little added fat. Roasted butternut squash, one of my favorite winter vegetables makes a wonderful creamy soup that your whole family will enjoy.
Ingredients:2 Butternut Squash halved and seeded
1 Apple pealed cored and diced
1 Pear pealed cored and diced
2 Cloves of Garlic chopped
1/4 cup of Calvados (apple brandy) optional
1/2 a medium onion chopped
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
8 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock (Click for my stock recipes)
1 tbsp Good Olive Oil
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 and sprinkle the squash with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to an hour until slightly browned and fork tender. Allow to cool so it can be handled.
Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a stock pot over medium heat. Add onions, pear, apple, garlic and a tsp of salt. Stir until it slightly caramelizes. Deglaze the pot with calvados or a little vegetable stock. Add vegetable stock and simmer until the apple and pear are tender. Scoop the butternut squash out of the skin and into the pot. Simmer for about 15 min. Blend the soup in the pot with an immersion blender (Kitchen Aid makes a good stainless steel model that comes with a little food processor). When the soup is smooth stir in the balsamic vinegar, you can adjust the consistency by adding more stock if it is too thick, we want a creamy soup not something akin to babyfood. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
If you make this with chicken stock you have a totally vegan soup and even with chicken stock it is very healthy. It is a soup that uses local winter product, all of the produce for the stock and soup I obtained from Nova Scotia providers.
VariationFor those of you like my buddy Sairam (a faithful vegetarian follower and good friend) who love to feel the spice, here is a simple addition to kick it up a notch.
When roasting your squash roast off one Serrano pepper. Let it cool in an air tight container to make pealing easier. Peel and seed the pepper when cool and add to the soup before blending. If you are cautious about spice add it in a quarter at a time blend and taste. This adds a very nice level of heat to the soup.
Special Thanks to my Providers
Active Live Farms for the Chicken for my Chicken Stock and the Garlic
Noggins Corner Farm for all of the wonderful Fruit and Vegetables
And as always the Halifax Seaport Market for giving me a place to find local product.
Local product also pictured
Oatmeal Bread from Aziz Best Bakery obtained at the Halifax Seaport Market
Cranberry Cheddar from Fox Hill Cheese
Tim's Kitchen Table 