Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

We are heading into soup weather (also time to clean out the vegetable drawer!). This recipe is cobbled together from half a dozen different recipes I found online and what I had on hand that needed to be cooked. The result was flavourful and spicy. I had initially used 1/2 tsp ground white pepper but have reduced it to 1/4 tsp here because the goal is not to overpower the sweetness of the veggies with too much heat. If you like the heat then go ahead and use the 1/2 tsp.

You will need:
1 small butternut squash (cut in half, deseeded, oiled and roasted @ 375 F for about 40 minutes or until soft to poke with a knife, cool and remove cooked squash set aside)
2 Tbsp butter
1 chopped medium yellow onion
2 peeled and chopped carrots
1 stalk celery chopped
2 apples peeled and chopped (I used Spartans but any old apple will do)
1 half bulb fennel cleaned and chopped (optional…I happened to have one)
4 c. stock (chicken or vegetable – I used 2 cubes McCormicks and 4 c. water)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder (optional)

  1. Melt butter in soup pot and saute the vegetables and the apple until soft.
  2. Add stock and spices.
  3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes (or until veg is soft).
  4. Cool and add the cooked squash and blend in batches or use an immersion blender. I left about a quarter of the soup chunky.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 6-8 bowls.

A lot of recipes I have read talk about peeling and chopping the butternut squash. With all due respect, that is waaaay more work than roasting it. Squash is hard to peel and tough to cut especially if you don’t have a good peeler and a decent chef’s knife. Roasting is two cuts (top off and cut in half length-wise), scoop out the seeds, oil the cut edges, place cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet and put in a 375 F oven for 45 minutes.  With roasting you end up with more of the cooked flesh and less of a mess to clean up. Further, you get a caramelized flavour from roasting. However, if you really want to spend the extra time peeling and chopping…go for it. I’d rather pop it in the oven and go read a book or prep the rest of the vegetables while the squash is roasting.

 



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.