Recipe: Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

I love everything about soup—how it tastes, cooking it up, seasoning it just right, AND … making a large enough batch so I can enjoy leftovers for several meals after! 🙂 Yes, leftovers rock in my book. But that might be the problem with my recipe for Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup. It’s just so good there may not be leftovers!

Now I have several different Butternut Squash Soup recipes that I make. I’m sure I’ll be posting the others sometime in the future, but today I wanted to share this recipe because it’s so delicious and extra special—perfect for a gathering like Thanksgiving or entertaining over the holidays.

What makes this recipe so wonderful? Well, there are several special touches that I’d like to highlight!

• The first is a head of roasted garlic. When roasted, garlic takes on a buttery, sweet, yet savory taste that really adds something special to this soup. Yeah, I know that roasting garlic can be a little time-consuming, so check the notes of the recipe for a quick method if you’re in a hurry.
• The second ingredient that I just love in this soup are Granny Smith apples. Tart yet sweet, these apples add an extra punch of flavor that is so yummy.
• Leeks are the third ingredient that really rounds out the taste of this soup. Although you can substitute onions, leeks really add a sweet, buttery, mild onion flavor that’s absolutely perfect.
• Finally, there’s a touch of ground ginger and maple syrup that just pulls this soup together in an amazing yet subtle way!

Can you tell how much I love this recipe? Just writing about it makes me want to cook up another batch! So definitely give this recipe a try. You and your guests will be thrilled with the result. And please, share a comment after you cook it up. I’d love to hear what you think!

Cheers!

Bruce

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

Bruce Bradley

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Calories

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole head of garlic roasted (see notes)
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups leeks thinly sliced (substitute onions if needed)
• 1 cup onion diced
• 4 cups butternut squash cooked (see notes, peeled and cubed (3/4-inch) (about 1 medium squash))
• 2 granny smith apples peeled, cored, and diced
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• season with salt and freshly pepper to taste about 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper

Optional Garnish:

• Sour cream
• Pepitas/Pumpkin seeds
• green onion tops or chives

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a large 8-quart saucepan. Add leeks, onions, and saute until tender (about 5 minutes). Stir in garlic, squash, apples, broth, maple syrup, and ginger. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the ingredients are tender.
• Use a blender (immersion or traditional) to puree the soup until nice and smooth, being careful to not burn yourself.
• Season soup with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, garnish with sour cream, roasted seeds, and green onions/chives..

Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when possible.

To roast a head of garlic, remove the outer, papery white skin from the head keeping the head/cloves intact. Trim the tip of the garlic head off, drizzle with a little oil, then wrap it in foil. Bake at 350F for one hour. Squeeze to extract garlic pulp and discard the skin. If you're short on time, here's a link to a quicker method to roast garlic in a microwave.

The squash can be cooked a day or two ahead of time. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and place cut side down in a baking dish. Add 1/2 inch of water and cover. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Squash should be cooked but not mushy.

Make sure the leeks are washed thoroughly and free of sand. A quick way to do this is to cut them in half lengthwise, then chop into 1/2-inch pieces using only the white part. Soak the pieces in a large bowl of water and swirl it around, then let the sand settle to the bottom of the bowl. Using your hands, scoop the leeks from the bowl and drain.

Did you make this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Kitchen Tips and Resources:

• Cuisinart’s immersion blender comes is handy for making this butternut squash soup, although my Blendtec blender does make it velvety smooth!
• A great kitchen peeler is essential for peeling apples, and I love my OXO Good Grips swivel peeler.
• If you’re looking for some cutting boards, do I have a great recommendation for you. I upgraded to these Epicurean non-slip cutting boards over a year ago, and I absolutely love them!
• I love pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) on so many things … especially soup! If you haven’t tried them, here’s an organic brand that I buy called Food to Live!