My family likes soup year-round and making it allows me to add fresh ingredients, control the salt content, and use the herbs I grow in our containers and gardens. I make chilled soups in spring and summer, but on a cold, rainy, or snowy day during the fall and winter, coming home to the scent of soup cooking and enjoying a warm bowl is so lovely.
I have made butternut squash soup many times, but I came across this roasted vegetable version on Pinterest. The roasting gave the soup such a rich flavor, I had to share. For the complete recipe, follow this link to Ahead of Thyme. I tweaked the recipe a tiny bit so check out my suggestions below.
Preheat the oven to 350º degrees. You will be roasting this for an hour so be sure you have a little time to be around. I am fortunate to work remotely, so I can prep this in the morning and cook later in the day. You can store the soup away to use on a busy weeknight too.
First, coarse chop all the vegetables and fresh herbs.
Place on a parchment-lined pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Gently toss to coat.
Slow roast for an hour in the oven. Easy! Make a quick salad and toast some sliced deli bread while you wait.
Near the end of the roasting time, you can make some of the tweaks to the recipe I mentioned. I tossed into the roasting pan some Granny Smith apple chunks (I used two small, organic apples), but you can also place the cut apple in a bowl of shallow water and microwave for a couple of minutes and then add. I also sautéed some fresh sage leaves in a tablespoon of olive oil until crisp. Remove them to a plate lined with a paper towel. Save the sage-infused oil.
When done roasting, transfer the veggies and herbs to a large pot on the stove and add the vegetable stock. I also add my sage-infused oil to the soup at this time. Cook on medium heat for a few minutes to combine the flavors. If you have an immersion blender, remove the pot from the heat and use it to make the soup creamy. You can also carefully (it will be hot) transfer the soup solids to a food processor in batches and blend them to your desired consistency.
To serve, you can top it with a swirl of almond milk, half-and-half, or cream. Crisp the reserved sage leaves and add to soup with a bit of salt and pepper.
Enjoy with some toasted bread and a salad. So grateful for the folks at Ahead of Thyme and their delicious soup! Again, for the complete recipe, follow this link to Ahead of Thyme.
