We love soup over here.
In fact, there are two seasons in this house: soup season and not soup season. {The latter is said with disdain, in case you’re wondering.}
So when I opened soup season with carrot and butternut squash soup I promptly got my own little dose of disdain from dear David, who said “really? This is your opener?” {Not a fan of butternut squash, that one.}
Which I sort of don’t understand at all especially since this little fella rallied after the powdery mildew infestation a couple months back and sprung up out of nowhere:
I will love you and hold you and call you puppet.
{I feel the same about that little guy as I did about the baby watermelons. Baby children, not so much…baby vegetables get me talking like a two year old with a mouth full of marshmallows.}
But I feel terribly sad for David because this soup is yummy. AND the carrots came right out of our garden. Maybe next year the squash will too. Yesterday I had this for lunch with some leftover chicken pesto pasta, and BOOM.
In case this piques your interest and you’re feeling all autumnal {as my college bff used to say}, here ya go.
Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup
Serves about 6 nice big bowls
-1 butternut squash, chopped
-½ pound of carrots, peeled and chopped
-1 large onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
-1 quart chicken stock {homemade is preferred by those spoiled by Ina Garten’s suggestions, ahem, US}
-Whole milk or heavy cream, give or take ½ to ¾ of a cup {heavy cream is preferred by anyone with a pulse} {you could also do half cream and half milk and give yourself a pat on the back}
-Olive oil
-Lots of salt and pepper
-lots of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds to top
Toss squash, carrots, onion, and garlic with about 3 Tbsp of olive oil {depending on how big your vegetables are} and a big pinch {about 1 tsp} of salt and about ½ tsp of pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven until tender and covered with those yummy browned bits on the edges, turning a couple times as you go. {Somewhere around 30 minutes total.}
Transfer all vegetables {in batches, if necessary} to a blender and puree. Put into heavy bottomed soup pot on medium low heat. Add chicken stock and milk until you like the consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. {We end up adding about another teaspoon of salt and about a ½ teaspoon of pepper…just depends on how salty my stock batch was on that occasion.}
Warm and serve. Top with pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of olive oil. Tastes even better the next day!
