Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Autumn has arrived and even though most people are spending their time missing summer and wishing it would come back we are super excited about all the autumn foods that will now be back in season- first and foremost Pumpkins and Butternut Squash!
This weekend we decided it was time to make the first Butternut Squash Soup of the season and of course to make it even better we decided to roast the Butternut Squash beforehand. Roasting the Butternut Squash will really elevate your dish - yes it takes a little longer for the roasting part but it’s 100% worth it and you can simply put it in the oven, put a timer and not worry about it.
We also decided to use both sage and thyme in our soup this time as we are big fans of both spices but you can play with this as much as you want - you could even add chilly flakes, cinnamon, basil or whatever you think will mix well with the soft Butternut. We also garnished our soup with a little bit of feta, pumpkin seeds and chilly powder but this is optional.
We hope you enjoy the recipe.
Prep Time: 40 Minutes
Cooking Time: 15 Minutes
Ingredients: (for 4 portions)
Butternut Squash - 1.5 Kg
Potatoes - 3 small
Shallots - 2
Sage - one spring (fresh)
Vegetable Broth/ Stock (2L)
Butter or Cream (Can be left out)
Salt & Pepper
Thyme
Preparation:
Start by preheating the oven to 200ºC. Roasting the butternut squash will give your soup a little extra kick.
Cut up your butternut squash in 2/3 cm dice removing the skin and seeds. Also peel and cut your small potatoes equally big.
On a large baking sheet, place the butternut squash and potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small pan start preparing your stock - you can either use homemade vegetable stock if you have any or use store-bought stock. You should have around 2L of stock water.
Once the 25 min roasting time is done take a pan and heat some olive oil and add the shallots you have cut along with the sage - let them simmer for a couple of minutes before adding all the butternut squash and potatoes.
Season with salt, pepper and thyme before starting to add the vegetable broth. Add enough to cover all the ingredients but not too much (you can always keep adding broth if you feel like it’s not enough.
Simmer for around 10 minutes, then using an immersion blender, blend soup until creamy. (If you don’t have an immersion blender carefully transfer batches of the hot soup to a blender). If you notice that the consistency is crumbly don’t be afraid to add in more stock or warm water until reaching the perfect consistency.
Add a little bit of cream or butter if you wish and stir (this can be left out for a healthier option)
The soup is ready to be served! Enjoy