Roasted Butternut and Garlic Soup with Caramelized Onions

With the evenings beginning to get chilly, soups have started to sound good. Neither Brett or I have ever really been "soup people" but I think it is due to bad experiences with canned soups. I've had a few homemade soups and have enjoyed them, but never really anything from a can. With the soup craving taking hold and a stash of butternut squash from our community garden plot hanging out in our closet, things fell in to place for a soup, salad, and bread night.

I've seen many recipes for a flavorful, warm, slightly sweet butternut squash soup - which I will be trying out quite soon - but I wanted something more savory and creamy. So this is what I came up with! Both Brett and I really enjoyed this soup - so much so that it is jumping straight on to J and B's Favorite Recipes.

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















The soup looking, well, like soup with some extra caramelized onions on top.















The loaf of local ciabatta (from Uprise Bakery) sliced up. We dipped the bread in our soup and also had a salad using the lovely head of lettuce we got in our CSA last week (I forgot to get a picture of the salad). We topped the salads with Annie's Tuscany Italian dressing. We need to use it up, but once it is gone, I will be making my own dressings.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic Soup with Caramelized Onions
1 large butternut squash, halved with seeds and stringy insides scooped out and discarded ***
1 bulb of garlic, 1/4 inch of the top cut off *
2 vidalia onions, thinly sliced *
1-2 tbsp safflower oil
3 cups of hot water
2 veggie bouillon cubes
dried basil (to taste)
sage (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)

Preheat oven to 400.

Place butternut halves skin side down on a baking dish.

Roast in oven for 20 minutes.

Place the bulb of garlic on the baking dish and drizzle with a little bit of safflower oil. Roast for an additional 20 minutes or until squash is very soft.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of safflower oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Let pan heat up for about 2 minutes, then add the onions.

Sprinkle onions with sage, black pepper, and salt. Stir-fry until onions are golden brown. Add another tbsp of safflower oil if needed to keep onions from sticking. Keep onions warm on low heat.

Let butternut squash and garlic cool for about 15-20 minutes when they are finished in the oven.

In a large pot dissolve veggie bouillon cubes in hot water.

Add the butternut flesh, roasted garlic (just squeeze the end of each clove and they will slip right out of the skin), and all but about 2-3 tbsp of the onions to a food processor and puree until very smooth.

Add butternut mixture to the large pot and combine with water. Add basil, and more salt and pepper if desired.

Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Serve topped with more onions.

This was surprisingly filling and an all-around wonderful meal!

'Til next time.