Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is creamy bowl of heaven. Perfect to ward of the Fall chill and lovely paired with salad for a light lunch.
While the butternut squash gets top billing, sweet potatoes also play a supporting role. The sweetness of these delightful orange beauties, are counterbalanced by savory onions, leeks and garlic. A cornucopia of spices add depth and a touch of heat. Heavy cream and sherry provide body and richness. So, so good! A cream drizzle and sprinkle of fresh snipped chives provide a lovely finish.
Inspiration & Serving Ideas
My good friend Kay was my inspiration for making this soup. I fell in love with it’s spiced, creamy goodness when she served this soup at our Book Club. So much so, that I featured this soup as a first course at one of my Tea Parties.
This Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is quite filling soup, so I used little tasting bowls for our Tea Party. These were the perfect size, paired with the Apple, Parmesan and Toasted Pecan Salad. As the next course, I served and an array of Tea Sandwiches. Then we finished the tea with a selection of sweets including, Lemon Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Brownies with Salted Caramel Frosting and Pumpkin Scones.
But you don’t need to host a tea to enjoy this soup. It’s delicious enough to enjoy in a hearty portion all on its own!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds butternut squash halved and seeded
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion sliced (use sweet if available)
- 1 leek white and light green section sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6-8 cups chicken broth
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup sherry wine
- 1 cup half & half
- whipping cream for drizzling optional
- snipped chives optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour a thin layer of water into a baking dish and place squash halves cut side down in dish. Bake for about 40-55 minutes, or until fork can easily pierce the flesh. Cool slightly, then remove peel (I find it's easiest to scoop squash out of the skin.) Set squash aside.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leek and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until tender. Pour 6 cups of chicken broth into the pot. Add the potatoes, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until soft. Add the squash and mash with the potatoes until chunks are small. Use an immersible hand blender to puree the soup, or transfer to a food processor and puree in batches until smooth. Return to the pot.
- Season the soup with cayenne, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, salt and pepper, then stir in the sherry and half & half. Based on your preference you can stir in all or part of the additional 2 cups of broth to reach desired consistency (I prefer a soup that it not overly thick, so I used the full 2 cups and still found the soup to be fairly thick.) Heat through, but do not boil. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with whipping cream and sprinkle with snipped chives.
Notes
Note – Please forgive the grainy photo(s) and minimal content in this post. It is from the early days of my blog when I was still figuring things out and using the ancient camera from my iPhone 4. These posts are being gradually upgraded over time.
Now you have the recipe you can whip up a batch for yourself! 😉
This is what I missed most! So yummy!