Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Granny Smith Apples and Ginger

This soup is rich and creamy and it certainly tastes like it is full of butter and cream, but in reality it is healthy, has no sugar, no gluten and very little fat. All the richness comes from the Butternut Squash and the sweetness is imparted by the green apple and roasted onions. It is my good old go to every single Thanksgiving. Why? It is easy. I can make it two days in advance and leftovers are super popular with everyone. It is healthy, has no sugar, no gluten and very little fat. Just pure goodness. Leftovers are even better. Change it up a bit if you wish by adding cinnamon croutons, or a little curry powder or coconut milk. I like it just like it is topped with a tiny bit of sour cream, Mexican pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 large whole butternut squash

4 green Granny Smith apples

2 medium white onions

7-8 cups broth, chicken or vegetable if you want Vegan

¼ cup olive oil

½ Tbs ginger paste or finely chopped fresh peeled ginger

1 Tbs curry powder (optional, highly suggested)

⅛ tsp nutmeg

1 Tbs salt

Fresh ground pepper

Topping:

Pomegranate seeds

Mexican pumpkin seeds

Chopped Parsley

1 can whole coconut milk (optional). You can use as a drizzle to decorate soup or you can optionally add ½ cup of the coconut milk stirred into the soup. I did not, but it is a yummy option to add additional creaminess. Scoop the cream off top of can first so that you can use it to decorate the soup.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel, deseed and chop squash into 2-3 inch uniform pieces. Cut onions into 8 pieces. Peel and coarsely chop apples. Place the squash, onions and apples on a cookie sheet and coat evenly with the olive oil. Roast in oven for 25 minutes. Turn and mix everything halfway through. When you stir it, make sure to stir the vegetables from the side into the mixture as they tend to dry out more. Roasting is what brings out the natural sweetness of the squash.

While the mixture is roasting, warm 6 cups of the broth in a large pan. Pour all of the roasted items into the pan with the broth. Add salt, ginger, nutmeg and bay leaves. Simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from heat, remove bay leaves and puree. As you puree you can add 1-2 additional cups of broth to get the soup to the consistency you prefer. I pureed mine with a hand immersion blender. If you do not have a hand blender you can use a regular blender. If using a regular blender then you need to let the soup cool. Adding liquids that are too hot to a blender can cause it to explode. This is why I like pureeing soups with a hand immersion blender. It is just easier. It can be done straight in the pan instead of filling the blender 2 times and waiting for the soup to cool down. Adjust with more salt if you wish and fresh ground pepper. You can prepare this mixture up to two days before serving. The flavors will meld and it is even better the next day.

Warm before serving. Top with coconut cream if you wish, Mexican pumpkin seeds, chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds.

If you prefer not to decorate the soup yourself, which is less time consuming, just pass small bowls of the pomegranate seeds, the pumpkin seeds, the chopped parsley and the sour cream to your guests and they can serve themselves.