Recipe: Roasted butternut squash soup

As the weather simmers to a cool chill, a warm bowl of soup is the perfect remedy after a cold day. Better yet, a soup made of the ultimate fall vegetable: butternut squash. This hearty soup is a dish that gets more flavourful as time passes. So make this at the beginning of the week, and savour its deliciousness during your Friday night unwind.

Tools: 

Soup pot 

Ladle 

Baking sheet 

Blender

Ingredients: 

1 butternut squash 

1 yellow onion, roughly chopped 

5 cloves of garlic with peel 

1 ¼ cup of coconut milk or 2 per cent milk 

¼  cup of heavy cream 

4 tablespoons of olive oil 

1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped  

Salt 

Black pepper 

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 375 F. 

Prepare the vegetables by slicing the squash into large chunks and the onions into quarters. The garlic will stay in its bulb. Generously drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables and season with salt and black pepper. 

Roast the vegetables for about 30-40 minutes or until the squash and garlic have softened and the onions are caramelized. Once the vegetables are finished, set them aside to cool. You must cool the vegetables before blending to prevent the blender lid from popping off due to rising heat. 

Once the vegetables are cooled, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their bulb – the garlic will come out similar to a puree due to the roasting process. Then, blend the components until smooth. 

In a pot heated with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, combine the blended vegetables, milk, cream, and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper, then simmer on low for 10 minutes. 

In my opinion, November feels like the “Wednesday” of the year, stuck between Halloween and Christmas. Thus, the best way to celebrate this mundane month is by making soup. This way, you will always have a warm bowl of joy waiting for you after a long cold day.