Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Cold weather is upon us. Pumpkins and other winter squash are everywhere (well, less now that Halloween is over). Perfect time to make a nice, hot soup. You can use pumpkin or other winter squashes in this dish. I don’t really like to cook with pumpkin. I like other winter squashes, but pumpkin–not so much. I don’t know if this is because most pumpkins are grown for carving instead of taste, but as for other winter squashes, butternut is probably my favorite. The tough skin and hard flesh may put some people off working with it–but as with anything, the key is breaking it into smaller pieces. Take a look at some instructions from The Kitchn if you are having some trouble.

This soup is nice and creamy with a mild sweetness to it. I plan on making a more basic soup later this year, but I wanted something richer for this soup. The sweetness comes from adding an equal proportion of apples to squash to the soup. Apples are not the most common ingredient in soup, but they are delicious.

Go through the jump to see the recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons butter (unsalted)
1 pound squash (about 1-2 inch cubes, it’ll all be blended later, so consistency of size is less important)
1 pound apples (about 1-2 inch cubes, it’ll all be blended later, so consistency of size is less important)
1 large onion, rough chop
4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup vermouth (or dry white wine)
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the squash, apples and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the chicken broth and vermouth, boost the heat to med-high to bring to a boil. Once boiling, partially cover and reduce the heat to low – med-low (enough to maintain a simmer). Cook for 30 minutes. The squash should be soft and erm, ’squash’ easily when pressed against the side of the pot. Remove from heat.
3. If you have a stick blender, you don’t have to wait for it to cool before blending. If you have a regular blender, add the soup in batches and puree until smooth.
4. When ready to serve, reheat over med-low – med heat (do not let boil). Add the cream and cook one minute more. Serve.

Note: Any spices/herbs should be added in step two. If making a large batch to freeze or to keep a few days, you can just add the cream when you re-heat the soup to serve.

Related posts:

• Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo
• Winter squash and sweet potato casserole
• Turkey Soup
• Tomato Soup
• The I-don’t-feel-so-good, easy, chicken soup