It’s winter time, the 1st of January 2020 and squash can still be found everywhere! In the garden, local roadside stands, and our local markets and grocery stores. Butternut squash is one of my favourite squashes. It’s so versatile, it can be used for sweet or savoury dishes. It’s sweet, has a great firm flesh, and is full vitamin A, potassium, and fibre. I make a few different kinds of butternut soup. This one is a nice creamy, coconutty version. Super (SUPER) easy and delicious. Full of whole foods, good fats, and tones of flavour! Bonus: my kiddos loved it!
Ingredients:
- 1 large butternut squash (weight/measurements don’t really matter, this recipe is forgiving)
- 1 large sweet onion, quartered. (you can also use two medium sized shallots)
- 3 large cloves of garlic, skin on.
- 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg.
- A sprinkle of cinnamon
- A Pinch of salt to taste.
- 1 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced.*
- 1 can coconut milk (I use full fat, you can use half fat if you’d like)
- 2-4 cups of vegetable broth.
- Olive Oil
These soups are super easy to make. You an add a few carrots if you’d like, onions, shallots, celery, whatever you want! With this recipe, I kept it really nice and simple.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350degrees.
– Place a Silpat mat on your baking sheet. If you don’t have one, get one! But really… if you don’t have one, you can use parchment paper until you do get one.
– Half the butternut, scoop out the seeds, and drizzle with olive oil.
– Quarter the onion or shallots.
– Drizzle the garlic cloves and onions with olive oil.
*I place the butternut squash facing down.
– If you would like to add a splash of water to the pan, go for it!
– Bake these ingredients for 45 minutes or until all the vegetables are nice and tender. Stick a fork in it and if it goes in and comes out easily, it’s done.
– Remove from oven and let cool.
– Spoon out the butternut squash, squeeze the garlic out of the skins, and place the onion/shallot all into a high speed blender (I use a Vitamix).
– Add remaining ingredients, start with 1 cup of vegetable broth and continue to add until you achieve the consistency you like. I just roughly chopped about a thumb size piece of ginger and threw it in there.
– Blend on high until everything is super smooth. Adding more vegetable broth if needed to get things moving and achieve the desired consistency you’d like
That’s it, that’s all! Enjoy with a delicious slice of fresh bread or with a nice little side salad, OR all by itself!
*If the idea of fresh ginger in the soup is a bit too much, maybe a bit too spicy, you can sauté the ginger in a little bit of olive oil for a minute or two and then toss it in the blender.
Sarah Vidalin 