Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Finished butternut squash and sweet potato soup, aka fall in a bowl

I’ve decided that the main difference between Gina and I on this blog (and also in life) is that she is a much more calculated and pre-planned type person.  I won’t say that she is more organized than me because I know both of our parents would beg to differ based on the permanent messy states of both of our rooms.  Anyway, she seems to be more of a follow a recipe pretty closely type of gal, while I like to experiment, and usually get ideas from a couple of recipes and then combine them or change most of the ingredients so that the end product is totally different and completely my own.  This is all my very roundabout way of saying I had absolutely no idea if this soup would be at all edible or good at all, but it was!  Which is good news for everyone because I would feel a little bad putting a recipe up that made everyone gag and encourage Gina to ditch her big sis and do this blog thing by herself.

Roasted veggies out of the oven. Try to resist just grabbing a fork and eating all of these.

I’d never ventured into the land of soup before this, but found it surprisingly easy.  This particular recipe really couldn’t be simpler in terms of execution- all you have to do is throw the vegetables onto a pan to roast and then heat them in a pan with some stock and puree or mash them if desired.  I’ve been getting into Indian-type spices recently because they add so much flavor so easily, and here I used cumin, coriander, and garam masala, which all complimented the sweet potato and squash really well without being overwhelming.  If you don’t have all of those spices you could definitely only use a couple and up the quantities, or even just use some curry seasoning to get the same general effect.  I blended about half of the finished soup in my mini-food processor to make it smoother, but you could keep it all chunky and just mash up the vegetables with a spoon/potato masher, or you could puree the whole thing if you want.

The end product was seriously good and a perfect welcome to fall, which it seems has finally come out of hiding and arrived to DC.  Both butternut squash and sweet potatoes epitomize fall and thanksgiving for me, and they are very good ingredients in a soup since they can be broken up easily.  They also caramelize very well in the roasting, and I will definitely be making this soup or a variation on this again very soon!

Big bowl of soup before the mashing begins

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
Makes about 4 servings

Equipment: Sheet pan, good knife, oven, big pot or two smaller pots, potato masher/wooden spoon, food processor or immersion blender (optional)

Ingredients:

1 whole butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium dice
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into medium dice
1 yellow onion, cut into medium dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups (about 32 oz) chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/4 cup half-and-half (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Start by peeling and cutting up the butternut squash, sweet potato, and onion. Put vegetables on a sheet pan covered with foil and drizzle with the olive oil and salt and pepper generously. Toss the mixture with your hands to coat everything in the oil, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until squash and potato are tender.

When vegetables are ready, put them into a large pot with the chicken stock, and add cumin, coriander, garam masala, and cilantro. Bring pot to a simmer, and mash vegetables with a potato masher or spoon to break them up. Puree about half of the mixture to make it smoother, either in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add the pureed mixture back into the pot, add the half-and-half if you want a richer taste, and serve.