Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
A silky smooth Butternut Squash Soup that’s perfect for those chilly fall evenings; but make no mistake — I’d take a bowl of this delicious soup in the middle of July! Roasting the butternut squash before adding it to the soup brings out it’s natural sweetness and adds an extra level of flavor.
I love the smooth texture and wonderful flavor of roasted butternut squash, but if you want to give it a little something extra, consider adding some ham or bacon to the soup. Don’t forget to top your soup with some roasted pumpkin seeds and a little crème fraiche, it’s a refreshing touch that helps balance the soup. Delicious!
What You’ll Need For Roasted Butternut Squash Soup:
- olive oil
- onion
- carrots
- garlic
- Kosher salt
- whole butternut squash
- chicken broth
- maple syrup
- cayenne pepper
- crème fraiche
- fresh chives or rosemary
- pumpkin seeds for garnish
How to Make Butternut Squash Soup
This wonderfully creamy soup starts off by roasting the onion, garlic, carrots and butternut squash. This step is so worth it!!! Slow roasting the vegetables in the oven helps them develop a deeper and more complex flavor. It’s worth the wait!
The next step requires very little effort. Just scoop the roasted butternut squash out of the skin, put it in your Dutch oven or soup pot with the chicken broth, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1 hour.
Using an immersion blender or a stand blender, puree the Butternut Squash Soup until it’s completely smooth. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to get out any bits. Check seasonings and serve. I like to serve my soup with some crème fraiche and roasted pumpkin seeds. Yum!
How to Make Crème Fraiche
What You’ll Need:
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1 cup heavy cream (preferably not ultra-pasteurized cream)
You can purchase crème fraiche in many grocery stores, but you can also make a pretty good mock crème fraiche with a few simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. Homemade crème fraiche is easy to make, and when using it to top a scrumptious soup, like this Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, it can add an extra touch of flavor that will complement the soup perfectly.
Warm the heavy cream to about 85° F, then stir in the buttermilk. Place this mixture in a glass jar with an air tight lid. Let the jar sit in a warm spot in your kitchen until the mixture thickens. This should take about 12 to 24 hours; then, give the mixture a stir. When your mock crème fraiche is done, it should have the consistency of sour cream (after it’s been stirred). The amount of time it takes to thicken will depend on a number of factors, including the type of cream you use as well as the temperature in your kitchen.
If the crème fraiche is too thin, place a piece of cheesecloth in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl; pour the crème fraiche into the sieve, and place the entire bowl and sieve into the refrigerator and let the mixture sit until it reaches the desired consistency. If you use ultra pasteurized cream, you’ll likely need to do this step.
Crème fraiche is a rich, slightly tangy cream that is delicious with fruit desserts, over fruit on waffles or pancakes, as a garnish in soups, or even stirred into pasta dishes.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
- 2 tsp. Kosher salt, divided, or to taste
- 3-1/2 lb. butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
- 6 cups chicken broth, more as needed
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, pure
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup crème fraiche
- 1 Tbsp. chives or rosemary, fresh, chopped, for garnish
- 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds, for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° F.
- In a large roasting pan, drizzle the olive oil. Add onion, carrots, whole garlic cloves, and a pinch of Kosher salt. Toss until everything is coated with the olive oil.
- Place the squash halves, flesh side up, on top of the chopped vegetables. Sprinkle squash with some additional Kosher salt. Place roasting pan in the preheated oven and roast until the butternut squash is just tender, about 1 hour. It should be easy to pierce it with a fork or tip of a knife. Remove from oven and let the vegetables cool a little.
- When the butternut squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and place it in a large stock pot with the other roasted vegetables. Add the chicken broth and maple syrup. Over high heat, bring the pot to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; simmer slowly about 45 to 60 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Remove from heat.
- With an immersion blender, blend soup until very smooth. You can also use a stand blender by working in batches. After blending, pass the soup through a fine mesh sieve to remove any fibrous bits. If the soup seems like it's too thick, simply add a bit more water or chicken broth to bring it to the desired consistency.
- Stir in a pinch of Kosher salt to taste, and the cayenne pepper. Serve soup hot with a dollop of crème fraiche and some chopped fresh chives or rosemary. Sprinkle with a few pumpkin seeds.
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