It’s raining cats and dogs as I type this. It’s been raining for two days and they are predicting more. Me. Not happy. This is the not so pretty part of autumn.
We’re having JTs “step brother’s” over for dinner tonight; Alan is from Vancouver and Peter is from Wasaga Beach. Our nephew Brian (the one we visited in Calgary in June, just moved back to Toronto and is staying with us for a couple of weeks) is also joining us. Wow, that’s me with four handsome men! I decided to make an all time favourite that really only works with a crowd, Paella.
But first our appetizer: the beautiful fall inspired butternut squash velouté. What’s a little different about this soup is that there is no Roux, or cream, just vegetables. And a Granny Smith apple (you see how I snuck that in?). I always oven roast my vegetables for the most flavour, and for this one, I also roasted an entire head of Ontario Garlic. The roasting happened a little quicker than expected because of all the moisture in the pan from the onions and the apple, I didn’t get the anticipated caramelization on the squash. Next time, I’ll roast the squash and potato separate to the apple and onion; it still made a mighty fine autumn soup. I have modified the instructions as such.
The recipe is really just to taste, if you love something, add more, hate something, omit it!
Ingredients:
- 1 large butternut squash, cut into cubes (save the seeds)
- 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium Vidalia, or Mayan onion, peeled and chopped into eighths
- 1 head of garlic, remove some of the outer peel, leaving the cloves intact
- 1 Granny Smith apple, washed and cut into similarly sized cubes as everything else
- Chicken or vegetable stock (we used no salt stock, we’re getting back into home made chicken stock time soon).
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Squash Seeds:
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- sea salt to taste
- 1 tsp EVOO
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Make sure your vegetables are cut to similar size so they cook similarly.
- Roast potatoes and squash drizzled with EVOO and salt in one pan; the onions and apple drizzled with EVOO in another for 30-45 minutes until soft.
- Put the trimmed garlic head in a ramekin that just fits it, drizzle with EVOO (about 2 Tbsp) and salt lightly. Cover with tin foil and bake until bulbs are soft, about 45 minutes.
- Combine everything in a large high sided bowl (the apple skins should just peel off, but don’t worry if the don’t) and purée with an immersion blender until smooth, adding stock to desired consistency.
- Press through a fine sieve or chinoise strainer, so it’s velvety smooth. Keep warm or refrigerate for later. Reheat before serving.
- Clean off the reserved squash seeds, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle on the spices and bake until slightly toasted (or when they begin to pop).
- 8. Serve in soup cups with the squash seeds as garnish.
Happy Friday Everyone, I hope you enjoy your weekend.
I had no idea that a non-cream/roux soup was a veloute. Good to know! That’s always how I’ve made my soups, except I don’t strain them, so they’re more chunky and rustic. I will however try roasting the vegetables before hand, another step I don’t usually do, but I can appreciate how it will add to the flavour. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Thanks Sue, welcome to my blog! Hope you enjoy it (as much as I love writing it!) too bad about the snow in Calgary. It’s a bit chilly in Marrakech today, hopefully warm up tomorrow!
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This is fall heaven!
I can’t wait to try this one Eva!
thank you for sharing
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Thanks Sawsan. I was able to get two more servings in the freezer for another day, perhaps this weekend!
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Beautiful and absolutely the perfect combination of flavors for a soup during this time of year. 🙂
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Thank you Jed. It’s been a rather wet autumn, & I’m hoping the winter will not be too bad!
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HA! I love the last part of the title- kinda of! That is how i wish I could name all my dishes because even though I set out to do a certain recipe I always tweak it so that it is kinda like the original but not quite! This looks amazing! I can’t wait to give it a try- squash is one of our favorites
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Thanks do much Jessica. Congrats on your new sponsor, so cool!
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This is one healthy and nutritious recipe and would love to try this for my mom =)
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Thank you Raquel, I will try this calculator. What a great idea!
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I’ve never tried straining my soups after blending. Does it make such a really big difference to the consistency? I guess it does remove any excess fibres and the like. Beautiful soup in any case – love the addition of the apple!
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Hi Charles, yes I find it makes a huge difference; the soup becomes so velvety, it’s really incredible. I just saw a recipe that had a Thai twist on this classic, with coconut and green curry paste! Will have to try it too.
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Oh, I am so with you on the weather Eva. Especially given the Thanksgiving weekend we were spoiled with – it’s so hard coming down from 27 degrees and sunshine to the cold, dark and damp reality of fall (oh dear, I’m slipping into my Irish garments :). I have to say, your butternut squash velouté is absolutely gorgeous looking and I just love how you serve it up in the tea cup! The inclusion of apple is wonderful. Perfect fall appetizer.
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Thank you Kelly. The cup is really a consumé cup; I love it’s size, it holds about 1-1.25 cups of soup which makes it perfect for an appetizer portion.
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What a pretty and warming fall recipe.
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Thank you Lynda. It was good timing; the temperature has plummeted and it really smells like autumn, with winter on her heels!
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Hi Eva! GREAT recipe! I like that you roasted the veggies before hand (I always sautee them….I gotta try the roasting) and that you put garlic in to be roasted. As always – it looks amazing! …and your pictures are a feast for the eyes!
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Very kind if you to say, Ann. The soup was so creamy and velvety.
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I just posted a recipe for my favorite squash soup. Yours looks sufficiently different for me to try it — I’ve never used potatoes with butternut squash. Beautiful blog, which I found through bitsandbreadcrumbs.
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Welcome, Sheryn. I checked your recipe and I love that you used the innards to make pumpkin stock. Great use of something that would normally be tossed!
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We’ve been having the same sort of weather-except it is strange because we should be in Spring! Either way I’d love this soup and roasting the vegetables is a great idea 🙂
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Thanks Lorraine. We had such an amazing summer this year, I shouldn’t complain!
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Hi Eva–That’s a roasted pot of wonderful all served up in an elegant soup dish. Nice presentation!
– Michael
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Thank you Michael. It was very delicious.
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What beautiful china. Lovely to have a soup that looks so creamy but is actually dairy free. It’s raining here in Sydney too. We’ve had no Spring to speak of. Still wearing my winter clothes when I should be slipping on a sundress.
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I’m always a little taken back Charlie-Louie that’s it’s winter there in July, and summer at Christmas! The china is our wedding china, thank you.
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That’s a perfectly warm and flavourful soup for the cold days!
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It certainly is, Angie. Have a great weekend.
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I love roasted squash and garlic. Throw in an apple, even better.
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Thanks Greg. The apple was subtle, but the flavour was there. I think I will enjoy this soup tonight as it is a grey, drizzly day…but better than snow, that’s for sure!
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This is a celebration of Fall! Roasting everything before adding to the stock pot is sure to bring a good deal of flavor. What a great recipe!
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Thanks John. Thick, creamy (without cream) and satisfying. I really love soups like this. Happy Friday.
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Beautiful! I’m making a squash soup next week and am going to use your roasting technique! Great timing. 🙂 Thanks Eva.
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Thanks Kristy. I’d love to see your recipe. Try adding the apple, it was subtle but it was there. Happy Friday!
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