Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

As the seasons change, one of my regular cooking projects is making homemade soups and stews. I typically make a large enough batch so that I can have some to eat that week and a supply to freeze for later. Ultimately I will end up with an impressive stash of soups and stews that I can take from the freezer and use to supplement lunches or dinners during the fall and winter months. Just imagine how great these are to have with homemade bread.

One of my favorite fall recipes is for a Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup from Joanne Weir. I had the pleasure of taking a couple of Joanne’s classes at Sur la Table a few years back, and I would love to take one of her culinary journeys to Tuscany, Spain or Morocco. The recipe is easy and straightforward, and the result is another creamy soup without added calories from cream so it is guilt free. When blended in a Vitamix you end up with a creamy, silky smooth soup with a texture similar to the Creamy Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup from an earlier blog post. Joanne recommends enjoying this soup with a nice Sauvignon Blanc. I would second that recommendation as this soup is filled with spices which include paprika, cumin, turmeric, and coriander.

This is a really simple soup to prepare. The two most difficult things are 1) cutting the butternut squash in half, and 2) neatly getting the soup from the pan to the blender. It is also a good recipe for advance prep work since you can roast the squash in advance. In addition, I tend to wait longer than the recommended 15 minutes for the soup to cool because it really is tricky getting the hot soup into the blender without spills or burning yourself. As with the tomato soup recipe, the Vitamix will reheat the soup while you’re blending it, although you may want to pour it back into the pan for stovetop reheating to ensure it is evenly heated.

P.S. – The recipe calls for a 1-1/2 to 2-pound squash, but often the ones in the store are much larger. This time around I bought and roasted a 3-1/4 pound squash with the intention of using half for the soup, and keeping half for another use. You can certainly just eat the other half or use it in another recipe. I’m contemplating a butternut squash and spinach lasagna recipe for the other half.