Leftover from my early-pregnancy period of morning sickness is a bit of a distaste for vegetables at the moment. I’m trying my best to eat healthy, but sneaking in veggies has been a challenge. So I’ve been trying hard to find any flavors of vegetable that sounds moderately appealing to me, and go full-force packing those into my diet. Butternut Squash has such a sweetness to it, that I can almost trick myself into thinking it’s less veggie and more like a treat! This weekend I experimented with a homemade hearty butternut squash soup packed with tons of vegetables and autumnal flavors. I hid a few carrots in there, and an apple and shallots for even more flavor. Some salty roasted pepitas and crusty bread make it a perfect chilly fall day meal! Full recipe below:
- 1 medium peeled butternut squash, cubed into large pieces
- 3 medium carrots
- 1 apple, peeled and quartered (remove core)
- 1 shallot, peeled and quartered
- ½ yellow onion, peeled and quartered
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. of cumin
- Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 ¼ cups of chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup of heavy cream
- Pepitas for garnishing and bread for serving
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Combine on a rimmed baking sheet the squash, carrots, apple, shallot, onion and thyme.
- Drizzle the vegetable combination with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and cumin.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until butternut squash and carrots are softened.
- Remove thyme sprigs and set aside to cool slightly before transferring to a blender or food processor.
- Pulse the vegetable mixture to break down the larger pieces and then blend together until smooth. Once the mixture is fully combined, stream in ½ to 1 cup of the broth in while continuing to blend.
- Transfer the butternut squash soup base to a stockpot and simmer to reheat, while whisking in the remaining broth and heavy cream until combined.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with pepitas, fresh cracked pepper, and a side of crusty bread.
