Roast Carrot & Butternut Squash Soup

Well, I’ve been in denial that fall is around the corner and summer is gone.  Somehow my body must be accepting this fact as I’ve had a craving for some fall flavors.  Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy fall.  To me, it’s crisp air, mums, apples, motorcycling & hiking to enjoy the colors, fishing, more time for knitting and fires…it’s just that I blinked and summer is gone.  But, I LOVE summer!  We are heading out on the boat tomorrow to go fishing, and at first I was so excited to fish, then swim, then enjoy a craft beer, then swim, then eat, then I realized that ain’t happening….I digress.  Back to the food at hand.

I found some butternut squash in the freezer and carrots in the crisper (I’m doing my best to be better about eating those, but they MUST be cooked in some way).

I had such a craving for a soft, fall flavor.  I am so thankful for a book I received from my mother-in-law several years ago, The Flavor Bible.  It is brilliant!  Anytime I have a flavor for something, whether it’s a veggie, spice, rice, you name it, I can open up the book to discover flavor affinities and throw something together.  It hasn’t failed me yet.

I opened the book to carrots and found that I should play with thyme, garlic, butter, ginger, etc.  So, here is a very simple and delicious recipe for a fall roasted soup.  It was fairly quick to make.  Mine made 3 hearty servings, and I admit I made a smaller batch because I had no idea how this would turn out, I don’t like leftovers for more than 3 days, and I wasn’t sure if John would eat it.  Simply double the recipe to make more.  Also, play with the amount of veggie broth to get the consistency you like.  I prefer more a bisque consistency so I stuck to 4 cups of veggie broth.

Roasted Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup
Servings: 3 

2 cups cubed butternut squash (I used 1 bag of cubed, frozen organic squash)
11/2 cups cubed carrot
1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
dash thyme
dash sea salt

2 cloves garlic, minced
~1/2 Tbl ginger, minced
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1 Tbl butter or EVOO

4 cups vegetable broth
dash nutmeg
1 tsp pure maple syrup
dash sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450F.  Toss the butternut squash and carrot in a bowl with 1 Tbl EVOO.  Spread out evenly on a pan with foil or parchment paper.  Sprinkle with thyme.

Roast for 15 minutes, toss and roast for another 15 minutes or until the edges are browning.  

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbl butter or EVOO in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add garlic, ginger and shallots.  Saute for about 5 minutes, or until soft and the shallots are golden.  

Time to pull out your blender!  or an immersion blender should work.  Add your roast veggies, sautéed veggies and spices to the blender.  Add about 2 cups of broth to start and puree.  Slowly add more broth until you get the consistency you desire.

Pour contents of blender back into soup pot and heat over med-low for about 10 minutes.  

Pour into your favorite soup bowl and enjoy!  I garnished mine with a little chopped parsley.  I also paired it with grilled tempeh seasoned with garlic and sea salt and a glass of Wollersheim Prairie Fume (mmm).  Cheers!