"Roasted Butternut Squash Soup"

This soup recipe is a little time consuming just because of the cutting and pre-roasting of the squash, but once that's done it definitely speeds up..

The roasting concentrates the flavor and gives the squash this amazing taste that's well worth the wait..

I find this one of the toughest soups to photograph as there is little variation in color or texture unless you garnish it just right—still just tends to look orange but she's got it where it counts, and that's in taste..

This is one of my Baby's favorite soups that I make here at home; sweet, savory, cinnamon spicy and oh so good..

Definitely worth making at home, especially now that Summer is coming to close and Fall is fast approaching us.. 

(Just looks so pretty as a starter before thanksgiving or any dinner during those fall months)

Though in this house, regardless of the time of year, this soup is a guaranteed to be a hit..

Try it out for yourself and your family; I think you'll find that it is, without a doubt, "Definitely Delish"

"Roasted Butternut Squash Soup"

Ingredients:
4 pounds Butternut Squash Cubes
3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Green Apple
1/2 Sweet Vidalia Onion
8 fresh Sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Sugar in the raw (turbinado sugar)
2 1/2 cups low sodium Chicken broth(see notes)
1 cup Apple Cider
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each of Allspice and Nutmeg
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
Garnish-see Note below

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees and arrange rack in middle..
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and fill with cut squash. Then melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brush it over top the squash pieces and then sprinkle with sugar..
3. Season with sea salt and pepper, then roast till knife tender-about 50 minutes to 1 hour approximately..
4. Meanwhile; peel, core and cut the apple into a medium dice. Follow by cutting the onion half into a medium dice as well. Then melt the remaining butter on medium heat in a deep pot, or dutch oven, large enough to hold several quarts of soup..
5. Add the apple, onion, and sage to the pot and season with salt and pepper-then cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. About 7 minutes..
6. Remove the pan from heat and set aside till squash is don in the oven..
7. When the squash is done, add it to the pot with the sauteed apples and onions; then add the broth, cider, cinnamon, spices and water to the pot. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat..
8. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and adjust heat if necessary..
9. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the heavy cream; now with an immersion blender, puree the soup inside of the pot. (You could also use a regular blender and puree in batches but I find the immersion blender saves on time and clean up)
10. Taste and season with salt, pepper or cinnamon as needed to achieve the desired taste..

Notes:
1. You can leave it slightly chunky if you prefer it that way. Also, you can garnish it with toasted pumpkin seeds, apple slices, dollops of goat cheese (I prefer honeyed goat cheese for this) or a few dashes of cinnamon - or even a mix of all of these..
2. Substitute the chicken broth with a light vegetable stock, Coconut cream (or cream substitute) for the heavy cream and use your preferred butter substitute (margarine, oil, etc) for butter to make this a Vegan or Vegetarian friendly dish..