With the leftover squash from those decadently sinful biscuits I decided to make something super healthy and just as delicious. I love this soup because it has so many flavor profiles, from the slight sweetness of the squash, to the deep smokiness of the roasted garlic, and a slight bite from the cracked black pepper.
Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Soup
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 lb butternut squash
- 1 onion
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- 10-12 cups water
- ½ cup white wine (if using white wine vinegar use only ¼ cup)
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- pepitas, for garnish (or any other seed you like)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Lay cut-side up on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes (until the flesh is easily pierced).
- Peel the garlic cloves, wrap in foil, and bake for about 30 minutes, until completely soft. Set aside.
- When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and set aside.
- Roughly dice the onion. Heat a tbl of oil in a large pot and add in the onion; season with a tsp of salt to start getting the moisture out and sauté until translucent. Deglaze with the white wine, scraping the bottom to get up all those caramelized brown bits.
- If you have an emersion blender: add the butternut, garlic, and 10 cups of water directly to the pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes. Puree with emersion blender until smooth.
- If you are using a food processor: in two batches puree the squash, garlic, and onion with a few cups of water and add back to the pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- If you would like to thin it out a bit, whisk in remaining 1-2 cups of water.
- Once everything is blended, taste it to see what it needs. Hint: it will definitely need more salt and pepper – I like a lot of black pepper to counteract the natural sweetness of the squash – salt is tricky because it will seem like you are adding a TON but there is a tipping point at which the salt all of a sudden brings out all the other flavors before it becomes “salty” – so add slowly and taste often.
- To garnish I like to add some roasted pepitas: with the oven at 400˚F, toss a cup of pepitas with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on these, give them a toss if the outer edge is cooking faster.
C.T. says
so tasty!