Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

We woke up to snow. I thought we might get some, and it would be that gross, sleety wet mixture that eventually switches over to straight rain. The snow was pretty at first, lingering on the roofs and grass, leaving little pawprints in the sidewalk where dogs had been. When you don't have to commute in it, it's not bad at all.

Eight hours later, it's still going. There's been no crossover to rain, no water to wash away all evidence. We don't have to commute home in it, but we do have dinner plans. And frankly, it's too early for this shit. It's October. Can't the snow let Halloween have it's moment?

I'm channeling cozy vibes here with a soup recipe. Guys, this soup is a big deal. Brent wolfed it down and asked if there was more. And he never likes when I make soup. The only problem is...I don't know exactly how I did it. It was a lot of, hmmm, we still have that bell pepper? Oh, that celery is definitely going bad. Basically, a fridge sweep soup. I know I'll probably never be able to recreate it exactly, but I did my best below. I've included larger measurements since you'll want leftovers, believe me.

If I'm being honest, I'm sure the reason Brent was vibing with the soup is the heavy cream. I can't keep it in the house unless I'm using it straightaway in a recipe because I'll just make myself indulgent AF hot chocolate. Like, straight cream and cocoa powder. With a cup of sugar for good measure.

Anyway, this heavy cream carton was tucked in the back of the fridge from a recipe I made a week or so ago and I had somehow forgot about it. When I was surveying the fridge for items that were going bad to put in the soup I found the cream and gasped. And knew I was going to have a winning soup on my hands. So don't worry about anything else, as long as you have the cream, this soup will impress.

Don't waste time with knife cuts or chopping anything too finely, since you're going to be blending it all up. I used seasonings I like and recommend you use what you like. More heat, less ginger, whatever you're in the mood for. I've been playing around with Trader Joe's Everything But the Elote seasoning blend and threw in a few generous shakes. I didn't have as much cream as in the recipe below and my soup was more like a puree, it was so thick. I didn't want to water it down just to make it thinner, and we both ended up loving the consistency. What I'm saying is, have fun with this. The recipe is more like guidelines, savvy? 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash 

1 medium onion

1 bell pepper (I had a green one, but red would add a nice kick)

3 stalks celery

1 apple (I had a red one, but Granny Smith would add a nice dimension) 

3 cloves garlic 

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cups heavy cream (personal preference if you want it thicker or runnier. You can use any liquid you want -stock, milk, water- but that will affect the taste and texture)

Ground ginger, to taste (oooh, I bet fresh ginger would be amazing in this. I need to start buying fresh ginger)

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

optional: 

Everything But the Elote seasoning, to taste

Roasted squash seeds, for garnish

Sour cream, for garnish 

Instructions: 

-Preheat oven to 425 F

-Peel and chop your butternut squash (save the seeds and roast them for a crunchy topping/snack!)

-Peel and chop your onion, garlic and apple

-Seed and chop your pepper

-Lay fruit and on rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake for 25-35 minutes, turning halfway. Squash should be soft and starting to caramelize and other produce should be semi-charred and fragrant.

-Put all produce in a blender, add cream and blend. Depending on the size of your blender, do this in batches. If you do this immediately after roasting BE CAREFUL as the hot veggies will be steaming. I left the sheet trays out at room temperature to cool down for an hour or so before blending.

-Once soup is desired consistency, pour in pot over low heat. Add salt, pepper and other seasonings. 

-Let soup heat on stove, stirring occasionally and tasting to make sure you like the flavor. 

-Garnish with roasted squash seeds and sour cream (if you want to be really indulgent, and hell yes, you do)