Pumpkin Squash Soup
There isn't anything I love more on a cool fall night than a bowl of soup. This one has all the classic flavors of fall too. Pumpkin, Butternut Squash & yummy seasonings like thyme & sage.
I came up with this recipe after a trip my husband & I took last fall to this lovely resort in South Carolina. The restaurant in the hotel served this amazing squash & pumpkin soup every day we were there at lunchtime & I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew I had to figure out how to make a version of it at home.
This one definitely does the job of recreating what I had in South Carolina & giving me the cozy, comforting feeling of fall. Actually I'll be making this soup all winter long. Who says pumpkin has to be confined to October & November?
This soup makes a really good size pot, so if you don't eat it all, it freezes beautifully. Just put leftovers in portion size containers & freeze. That way when the feeling of needing a warm bowl of goodness strikes, all you have to do is pull it from the freezer. I've also found that pulling out a frozen bowl of this soup in the morning & sticking it in a lunchbox, makes it perfect thawed for heating up at lunch time!
Pumpkin Squash Soup
ingredients
1 large butternut squash
1 yellow onion, peeled & chopped
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 large sweet apple, peeled, cored & chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 - 15 ounce cans pumpkin puree
1 can {full fat} coconut milk
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt*
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
directions
preheat the oven to 350º. place the whole butternut squash into the oven for 1 hour to bake. allow to cool enough to slice open & scoop out flesh.
In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat & sauté the onion & fennel for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
turn heat down to low & add the butternut squash, pumpkin puree & garlic to the pot. stir everything together.
add in all other ingredients {except coconut milk}, turn heat up & bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes. cover pot with a secure lid, reduce heat to low & cook 1 hour.
turn off the heat, remove the pot from burner & add in coconut milk. use an immersion blender & puree soup until smooth. {you could also use a blender, but please do so carefully. placing hot liquid in a blender must be done with extreme caution. watch this video for some tips}
serve immediately
* due to the size of the butternut squash, the amount of salt you will need will vary. i always start with
2 teaspoons in this recipe. once it is done, taste it,
adding in more salt by 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon
increments until you get the desired flavor.
