Thursday, November 17, 2011

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I've been doing this blog for 7 months now and it is slowly evolving.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it in the beginning.  But now that I have more readers than before, I'm trying to get better at presenting the images for the recipes (and not shooting in bad lighting.... not my best) and editing my material more so I hope you like the change!  I'm totally a visual person and I like making things easier on the eye.  This takes more time to do so I don't know how much additional time I'm going to spend editing my material or if this means I will be posting less often.  We shall see! 

I have been cooking with a lot of squash lately.... pumpkin, delicata squash, spaghetti squash, etc.  I guess it is that time of year but I couldn't forget about my good ol' friend, the butternut squash.  This is probably the most popular of the squashes and for good reason.  It is sweet, has a slightly nutty taste, and is relatively easy to cook with.  If you ever want to know how to cut and peel a butternut squash, I already have a tutorial here in a past recipe.  This soup is light and comforting at the same time.  It's perfect for a side, lunch, or light dinner.


Adapted from AllRecipes
Makes 4 servings

 
2 cups raw butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 quart chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lay out the butternut squash evenly on a baking pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and lightly season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15 minutes on 1 side.  Take the pan out of the oven, toss the squash and roast for an additional 10 minutes on the other side.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot, celery, and cinnamon stick to the pot.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook the veggies for about 5 to 6 minutes 'til they have softened (not browned).  Add the coriander and stock to the pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 7 to 8 minutes so the flavors meld.  Add the roasted butternut squash and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Remove the cinnamon stick.  With an immersion blender, blend the soup 'til it is smooth and creamy (you can also transfer the soup to a blender and puree it that way).  

Taste the soup and adjust for salt and pepper.  Stir in the heavy cream.

 

The coriander and cinnamon are great additions to this soup.  They create really subtle flavors and this soup would have been totally different without them.  If you haven't used coriander before, it smells similar to lemon and it smells very earthy.



I like roasting the butternut squash long enough so it caramelizes and creates the yummy sugars.  And whoever created the immersion blender is pretty genius.  I like using it because it is way easier than bringing out the blender and washing all the parts after you use it.  I bought mine at Costco.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great photography Monica. I love butternut squash soup...it's one of my fav's!

Steph said...

Hiya! I just saw your comment on the cowgirl cookies. ;0) When my little one goes to bed tonight ill have time to send you the deets. Thx for stopping by my blog! I love your blog!

Stephanie

Oh Sweet Escape said...

yes thanks steph! i would love to know how to do those cookie jar labels!

Steph said...

So here is where I got the whole tutorial and PDF download for the printables:

http://www.bakerella.com/mix-things-up/

Basically I printed the free PDF on those Avery sticker sheets (white) then punched them out with one of those big circle cutters from Michaels craft store. It was super, duper easy! I can't wait to see your photos! ;o)

Oh Sweet Escape said...

steph, that looks so easy! this is giving me some ideas... hmm!

LandofNams said...

Monica, your pictures are amazing and I am totally getting inspiration from these!

Oh Sweet Escape said...

namrata, i'm totally just like you. i'm still a newbie at using my DSLR. most of the time i still have my camera set at automatic. yup, still on automatic (no flash). haha.

LandofNams said...

Yea but just the same you have great composition, which is an area I really need some practice in.

Oh Sweet Escape said...

thanks for thinking that! that makes me happy :) i think i'm gonna start watching youtube videos to figure out how to change my settings manually. that will be my next project :)

Cherry Blossoms said...

HI Monica,
I can't for some reason reply back to my blogger email/ comments so I am leaving my reply here regarding the tutu's. I am pretty sure it was 6 inches across and then you decide on the length. I don't have any tulle left to measure and by the time I got around to calling the ribbon store to ask they were closed.
Hope this helps and you will have to post a pic of the one you make.
-Heidi

Oh Sweet Escape said...

heidi, thanks so much for replying! i'm gonna try and do it in the next couple weeks and steal my friend's daughter for a few pics. i will definitely post the pics! i am super excited to try it!

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