Butternut Spiced Soup

I love winter squashes, as a group they are one of my favorite foods. They are sweet, creamy, and nutritionally and flavorfully quite a bang for your buck. You can't imagine how thrilled I was to see some varieties all ready showing up at the farmers market. It took me a long time to like squash soup. I used to make it often, because my husband liked it, but never really enjoyed the flavor. Finally I realized that every recipe I tried included heavy cream or coconut milk. For me, the squash are plenty creamy on their own. In fact I think the added cream takes away from the complex flavors in the squash. I made this recipe with butternut, but other varieties of winter squash would taste great. I recommend acorn, pumpkin, or kabocha; just make sure to roast whatever kind you choose as it brings out the sweetness of the squash. This recipe is very simple and adaptable. Enjoy!

Butternut Spiced Soup

Gluten Free, Vegan*
Makes 5 cups









1 large butternut squash (see notes)
2+ cups bone broth (chicken or beef) or vegetable stock*
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 inch by 1/2 inch piece of ginger, or to taste (1.5 tsp dry)
1 inch by 1/2 inch piece of turmeric, or to taste (1 tsp dry)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbl sea salt, or to taste
3 tbl coconut oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Split the squash and de-seed. My squash was large so I cut it into smaller pieces to make it more manageable. 
2. Rub the flesh with a little coconut oil and salt, and place flesh side down onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 1 hour until the skin can easily be piereced and the flesh has begun to brown. Set it out to cool.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a medium size pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions.
4. Peel and dice the ginger and turmeric and add to the onions. Sauté for 8 minutes. If you do not have fresh turmeric or ginger then just use powdered kind but wait to add it until the next step. It would be about 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger.
5. Once the onions have begun to brown, add the dry spices and sauté for about 30 seconds until they get very fragrant. Immediately pour about 1/4 cup of stock into the pot and turn off the heat. The stock will unstick any spices or onions and keep the spices from burning. 
6. Scoop the flesh of the squash (I got about 3 1/2 cups), into a blender. Add the onion and spice mixture, salt, and 2 cups of stock. Depending on the size of your blender and squash, you may have to work in batches. Mine exactly fit into my 5 cup blender. 
7. Blend until smooth and creamy. You can add more stock to achieve the consistency you like.
8. To reheat pour back into the pot and warm on low. If you refrigerate it for later then you may want to add a couple tablespoons of stock or water when reheating as it thickens in the fridge. 
9. Leftovers should be good for 5 days.

Notes and Substitutions

• You can use other varieties of winter squash interchangeably. I didn't weigh my squash, but I did get about 3 1/2 cups, if you end up with way more then this then just save some for another use or freeze it for later. You can look at the picture to get an idea of how big my squash was on a standard size cutting board.
• This soup definitely has a strong ginger bite, if you are sensitive to the flavor of ginger or do not want it so spicy then I would cut it in half and reduce the nutmeg to 1/4 tsp.
• I topped it with a little cinnamon, but it would be great with a dollop of greek yogurt.

De-seed squash and rub with coconut oil and salt.

Place the squash flesh side down and roast on 375F for 1 hour.

Let the roasted squash cool.

Saute onions, ginger, and turmeric for 8 minutes.

Add the dry spices and sauté for 30 seconds,
 then add about 1/4 cup stock and turn off the heat.

Blend squash flesh, onion mixture, salt, and stock
until smooth and creamy.

Gently reheat on low and enjoy!

Do you like winter squash?