Butternut Squash Soup

Soup's On!

Roast up some butternut squash and garlic in the oven and then add to a few more ingredients for a good winter soup. It will fill your kitchen with wonderful smells while you are simmering it on the stove. 

  

Makes 6 appetizer servings

4 slices of bacon

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 head of garlic (top sliced off to expose top of cloves)

(1)  2 – 2 ½ pound butternut squash

1/2 pounds carrots, chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

3 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Hot sauce to taste

To roast squash and garlic:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a pan with tin foil. Cut stem off of the squash and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and pulp. Drizzle squash and garlic with olive oil. Cover and wrap tightly with another piece of tin foil. Cook for about 20 minutes. Cool.

To make soup: 
Cook the bacon in a large stockpot. Add onions to fat in pot and cook for 1 minute. (Add a little more olive oil if you are using turkey bacon.) Squeeze out three cloves of the roasted garlic and add to onion. Stir for another minute. Add squash and next 8 ingredients (through nutmeg), and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Discard thyme and bay leaves.

Puree the vegetables in a blender, or use an immersion blender in the pot. Add the cider vinegar. If you like a little heat, add a few drops of the hot sauce. Serve with crumbled bacon sprinkled on top.

Spice Up Your Soup! 
If you like curry, try adding between 1 – 2 tablespoons of curry powder as you cook the soup, along with 1 tablespoon of honey or agave nectar. This will give the soup a nice spicy-sweet taste. Instead of bacon, top each serving with a swirl of canned full-fat coconut milk.