Every year when the weather cools down, I crank up my oven and make this soup on repeat. By roasting the butternut squash, leeks + apples to bring out their natural sweetness and blending the sweet veggies and fruit with warming fall spices (plus a touch of apple cider vinegar), the end result is a luscious (and super simple) soup I highly recommend enjoying while cozied up in your PJ’s. Keep scrolling for the full recipe, which was inspired by and adapted from Sara Britton and her blog My New Roots.
Roasted Butternut Squash, Leek & Apple Soup
ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 leeks, sliced into thin rounds and rinsed
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1 large butternut squash (2-3lbs), peeled and diced
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
4 – 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Apple cider vinegar, to taste (start with 2 tsp up to 2 Tbsp)
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Prepare the vegetables into a large bowl: slice and rinse the leeks, dice the onion, peel garlic (but leave it whole), peel the butternut squash and dice into 1/2-inch cubes, peel and dice the apple. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt to the vegetables in the bowl and toss gently to coat.
- Pour the prepared vegetables out evenly onto two rimmed baking sheets. Set the trays in the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes until tender and beginning to brown, stirring halfway through and making sure the leeks don’t burn.
- While the veggies are roasting, pour 4-6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth into a saucepan along with the salt, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar. Cover and bring to a low simmer.
- When the vegetables are roasted, blend the soup in batches by transferring a few cups of roasted vegetables into a standing blender, along with a few cups of the warmed broth, blending on high until completely smooth. As you work in batches, transfer the blended soup into a stockpot. Alternatively, you can combine the vegetable and broth in a stockpot and blend with an immersion blender.
- Once all the soup has been blended, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Add additional stock if you prefer a thinner soup. This soup is delicious topped with toasted nuts or seeds, creme fraiche, and caramelized onions or leeks.