WINTER SQUASH SOUP WITH FRESH HERBS

By Ana Larramendi
Makes approximately 3-4 quarts.
 
This is a delicious autumn soup that can be made with a variety of sweet winter squashes or even sweet potato! I have used Sweet Dumpling Squash, Delicata, Blue Hokkaido Pumpkin, and Kabocha Squash. My preferred squash to use is Butternut Squash. You will need 4 cups of roasted squash pulp for this recipe.

Part 1: Squash pulp:
To produce the squash base, you will need to roast squash or sweet potatoes to make the 4 cups of pulp. I recommend using about 4 lbs. total of whole squash or potatoes to get this amount. 
This can be done the day you are making the soup, or you can bake the squash, scoop and measure the pulp, and reserve it several days in advance, or you can freeze it in a Ziploc bag and save till later.
Preheat oven to 350°
Wash the squash and/or sweet potatoes. Leave them whole, but with a paring knife, poke the skin in several places. Place the squash/ potatoes on a baking sheet or baking pan lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake whole for 1- 1 ½ hours, or until a knife easily pierces the flesh to the center of the thickest part of the vegetable. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for easy handling. For squash, split in half with a knife then scoop out and discard the seeds. Then with a spoon gently scoop the out the flesh making sure there is no skin attached. With yams or sweet potatoes, simply split and scoop out the pulp, separating it from the skins. Measure the pulp till you have 4 cups total. The pulp doesn’t need to be pureed at this time. Refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to make the soup. Eat or freeze any extra pulp for another use.
 
Part 2: Making the Soup:
You will need a 4-6 qt. soup pot.
Ingredients with * show vegan or Paleo option
 
Soup ingredients:
2 TB. butter (or coconut oil* or Earthwise margarine*)
4 C. Peeled and coarsely chopped onions
2 C. Chopped celery
2 C. Chopped, peeled carrots
2 teas. salt
½ teas. white pepper
½ teas. ground nutmeg
6 C. vegetable* or chicken stock
2 TB. fresh chopped sage
1 TB. fresh chopped thyme
4 C. Prepared squash/potato pulp
2 TB. Honey (or Agave syrup* or 1/3 C. golden raisins*)
**Extra stock or heavy cream or Cashew milk* to adjust consistency. Optional.
 

Directions:
In the soup pot, heat the butter (or coconut oil/ margarine) over a medium heat. When the butter is melted and bubbling, add the onions, celery, carrots and salt to the pot. Stir, lower the heat and put a lid on the pot. Allow the vegetables to wilt and soften in the butter and low heat for about 10 minutes. Now add the pepper, nutmeg, stock, sage, thyme, and prepared squash. Add honey, or for vegan or Paleo, substitute Agave syrup or the golden raisins. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered. Remove from the heat and either puree with an immersion blender, or, my preference, puree in a blender for a super silky consistency.
 
Once the soup is pureed, taste and adjust for salt. Also, see how you like the consistency. If you used starchier squash like Kabocha or yams or sweet potatoes, the soup may be very thick. If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little extra stock, or water, to reach your preferred consistency. If this is not going to be vegan or Paleo, I love adding about 1 cup heavy cream or even cashew milk for a little creaminess in the soup. This soup will keep 5 days in the refrigerator and will freeze for 3 months. Delicious!!!