Roasted Butternut Squash Apple Soup Recipe 445

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Arrange butternut squash halves, carrot chunks, sweet potato chunks, and whole garlic head onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the vegetables; season with rosemary, salt, and black pepper.
• Roast in preheated oven for 20 minutes, turn the carrot and sweet potato chunks, and continue roasting until everything is tender, 20 to 30 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
• Use a spoon to remove flesh of squash from skin. Cut carrot and sweet potato into small pieces. Squeeze roasted garlic from skin.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; add celery and onion. Season the celery mixture with nutmeg and cayenne pepper; saute until the celery and onion are tender, about 8 minutes. Add apple and continue to cook and stir until apples begin to get hot, about 2 minutes more.
• Pour vegetable broth and apple cider into the pot; bring just to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer for 30 minutes.
• Stir squash, carrot, sweet potato, and garlic to the pot. Blend soup with an immersion blender until smooth.

Steps:

• Combine squash, onion, apple and canola oil in a bowl; toss to coat.
• Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.
• Remove roasted vegetables to a blender or food processor and add ginger, garlic and about 1 1/2 cups of the stock; purée, adding more stock if necessary.
• Use a little of remaining stock to deglaze the baking sheet; pour into a large soup pot over medium heat.
• Combine 2 tablespoons of stock with cornstarch in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
• Toast curry powder in a dry skillet until it begins to give off a nutty fragrance.
• Add cornstarch mixture, curry powder, remaining stock, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to soup pot.
• Cook until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.
• Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
• Add milk and cream cheese; heat through until the cheese melts.
• Correct seasonings.
• Serve hot, garnished with minced chives, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each squash quarter in half and place in a large bowl. Quarter and core apples, and add to bowl. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Rub everything to coat well, and transfer to a large baking sheet. Cover tightly with foil.
• Bake until apples are soft in center, about 30 minutes. Transfer apples to a plate to cool, and return squash to oven to bake until soft, another 15 to 30 minutes. When apples and squash are cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh into a large bowl; discard skins. Working in batches, purée squash and apples in a food processor or blender. If necessary, add some apple cider to each batch to help purée.
• Transfer purée to a 4- to 6-quart soup pot. Add remaining cider and enough chicken broth or water for desired consistency. Place over medium-low heat. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice; as soup warms, flavors will emerge. Heat just until steaming, and adjust seasonings to taste. Ladle into warm bowls. If desired, garnish with dried cranberries or dried cherries, toasted almond slivers and diced apple.

Steps:

• NOTE: You don't have to roast the vegetables nor garlic. I find that when I roast vegetables, they take on a deeper and nuttier flavor. Roasting garlic transforms a pungent and strong flavor into a mellow and sweet Preheat the oven to 375F. Cut a small sheet of aluminum foil. Center 4-5 fresh garlic cloves and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Seal the foil and place on the baking sheet with the butternut squash and/or apples. Roasting time is 20-25 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool. Once the garlic is cool enough to safely handle, the soft pulp will gently squeeze out. Set aside. On a parchment of foiled lined baking sheet, dump the diced butternut squash. Drizzle a little olive oil (1-2 Tbsp.) and sprinkle with some coarse salt & black pepper. With your hands, toss the squash to coat and season evenly. Roast for approximately 20 minutes, until tender and lightly golden on the edges. On a separate baking sheet, do the same for the apple chunks. (You could roast it all one one large pan, if you have room.) Roast for about 15 minutes. In a Dutch Oven, add a bit of olive oil (enough to lightly coat the pan) and one small pat of unsalted butter, on medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the curry (if you are using it) and stir for about 15 seconds. Add the roasted garlic. (Note you can add fresh garlic, but use 1 small clove and be careful it doesn't burn.) Add the roasted squash, diced potato, apples, the white wine and apple juice. Add 2-3 cups of chicken stock-- enough to just cover the vegetables and fruit. Tie the thyme & bay leaves with kitchen twine. (NOTE: You can add the thyme directly to the soup, but I used a bouquet garni just to flavor the broth. I wanted to remove the herbs for aesthetic purposes only.) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer on low heat. Allow the soup to cook for 20-30 minutes. NOTE: If you opted not to roast the vegetables, allow to simmer about 45 minutes, so that the vegetables and apples can cook to fork tender. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Otherwise, use a blender to puree in batches. Be very careful to put a towel over the top of the blender. The soup will be quite thick (from the potato starch). Taste and adjust your seasonings with more salt, if necessary. If desired, add heavy cream or whole milk to thin and give a lighter color and richer flavor. Otherwise, add more chicken or vegetable stock, until it reaches your desired consistency. TASTING NOTES: If you love the taste of butternut squash, then decrease to using only 1 apple and just a splash of apple juice. Since I'm wary of butternut squash, I loved the balance of the apples that toned down the bitterness (to my personal taste buds) of the butternut squash. You could substitute sage, instead of thyme, which I think would be delicious.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large roasting pan, toss squash, onions, garlic, and apples with oil to coat. Season well with salt and chile powder. Roast, stirring every 10 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender and lightly browned, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer half the vegetables and 2 cups stock to a food processor; puree until smooth. Repeat with remaining vegetables and broth. Return pureed mixture to pot, thinning soup with stock, if necessary. Season with salt and chile powder; bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Serve immediately, garnished with Cilantro Walnut Pesto, if desired.