Recipe: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (with a bite!)

I made this today, Canadian Thanksgiving, for my family. I've made a similar recipe last Thanksgiving but this year I added apples and made a few tweaks in the recipe. By far this is the best batch I have made to date. We enjoyed the soup for a light lunch with olive foccacia which I picked up from the farmer's market. 

What you'll need:

2 medium butternut squash, each cut lengthwise in half, seeds removed
3 medium sized tart apples (Honey Crisp, Cortland, Granny Smith)
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 medium cooking onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or dried chili flakes
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
4 cups of chicken or veggie stock
2 cups water

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Toasted pumpkin seeds and fresh chives for garnish

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil. Place squash halves, cut sides down, in lined pan, and roast about 45 minutes or until very tender when pierced with knife.

During the last 10 minutes of baking place the apples, whole, on baking sheet. Continue baking until the 10 minutes is up. Cool until easy to handle, then, with spoon, scoop squash from skins and place in large bowl. Discard skins. Keep the peel on the apples and simply cut into large slices.

2. Meanwhile, in 5- to 6-quart saucepot, heat oil on medium until hot. Add celery and onion, and cook 10 minutes. Stir in cumin, chipotle chili, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; cook 30 seconds, stirring.

3. Add broth, water, and squash to saucepot; cover and heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. I made this today, Thanksgiving, and was busy making other things so I simmered the soup for an hour. The longer you simmer it the better it tastes!

4. In batches, ladle squash mixture into blender. With center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape, blend squash mixture until pureed.

Pour soup into large bowl. Return all soup to saucepot and heat through. Garnish each serving with pumpkin seeds and chives. Makes 10.5 cups (great for freezing).

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