Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

A fall must have, Butternut squash soup that is almost as good as the one from Panera Bread! Super thick and perfectly flavorful, you need this through Fall and Winter! 

Crisp air, pretty leaves, pumpkin patches, hot chocolate, trick or treat hoodies and boots. All indicate that the most colorful season is back. Welcome to Fall!! And with it, this season brings in a range of vegetables and fruits. Butternut squash is one of them.It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin, with yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. The most popular variety, the Waltham Butternut, originated in Waltham, Massachusetts. 

Although a fruit, butternut squash is used as a vegetable that can be roasted, toasted, puréed for soups, or mashed and used in casseroles, breads, and muffins. It is a good source of fibre, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and potassium. It is also an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin E. Here is a simple recipe of butternut squash soup, an autumn must-have!

Ingredients

Butternut squash, halved

Onion ½ cup, diced

Garlic, 2-3 cloves minced

Ginger, 1 inch piece, grated

Potato ½ cup

Black Pepper, Salt

Water 

Butter, Olive oil

Method

The first step is to roast the butternut. In order to do so, cut the squash into half and remove all the seeds and stems. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and olive oil on the squash and microwave for about 8-10 minutes, until the flesh is soft. Remove the skin and cut the squash into pieces. Alternatively, it can be roasted in the oven at 350 F/200 C for 20-30 minutes.

In a heavy bottom saucepan sauté garlic and ginger in ½ tsp. butter. Add diced onion and sauté with black pepper. Next add the peeled and diced potato and mix well. The potato helps thicken the soup without adding any corn starch! Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Once the potato is soft, add the butternut squash. Add 2 cups water, 1 tsp. salt, mix well and cook till the mixture is soft.

Cool the mixture and blend to a smooth paste. Seive the mixture back to the saucepan and bring to a boil. The soup is ready to serve! 

Top with oven roasted seeds of butternut squash. To make them, wash and dry the seeds, put them on a baking tray and sprinkle sea salt on them. Roast them at 350 F for 10 minutes. Top them on the soup and serve!!

Enjoy this fall soup with Baked Garlic Croutons.

Also enjoy other soups like Creamy Celery Soup, Bhune Bhutte ka Shorba and Creamy Carrot Tomato Soup!!