Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Whether it’s soup weather in Houston or not, I can’t say. But I can say that this Roasted Butternut Squash Soup will hit the spot in any weather.

I have tried butternut squash soup recipes for years and never have hit the goldilocks mark. But this year I took direction from Amanda Hesser’s (of Food52) adaptation of Thomas Keller’s (of Bouchon) recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter, and it was amazing. A caveat: I would never compare anything I make to Thomas Keller or Amanda Hesser – they are both legends. But in my own little kitchen, in a super simplified version of their perfect recipe, I am very happy with this soup. If you want to go all out with homemade vegetable broth and browned butter and crème fraiche and butter, here is your recipe. But if you want an easy, weeknight butternut squash soup, I’ve got you covered.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
5 cups (approximately) peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash (buy this pre-cut to make life easy)
1 honeycrisp or fuji apple, peeled, cored, and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 cup thinly sliced leeks, white part only
½ cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
4 garlic cloves, smashed
6 cups chicken broth
Bouquet garni made of 8 sprigs thyme, 4 sprigs Italian parsley, 2 bay leaves wrapped in a packet made of 2 leek leaves
½ cup roasted pepitas
Minced chives for garnish

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash, apples, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Spread the squash and apples across the baking sheet in 1 layer. Separate the sage sprigs and tuck the leaves in around the squash and apples. Roast about 1 hour, until everything is tender and begin to brown, stirring halfway through.

Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots, and onion and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and continue cooking and stirring for 3 minutes. Add the broth and the bouquet garni, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Remove the sage leaves from the roasted squash and apples. Add the squash and apples to the soup and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni, and using an immersion blender, puree the soup. (You can also transfer to a blender to puree, but be sure to let the soup cool a bit first so that you don’t wind up with soup on the celing.) If the soup is too thick, stir in some more broth until it is the consistency you like. 

Serve topped with pepitas and minced chives.