Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I love blended soups for early postpartum meals because they cover all the important principles of postpartum eating: warm, well-cooked, nourishing, easy to digest. And they’re usually a bit more interesting than broth, so the whole family can enjoy together. Speaking of, my main complaint about blended soups is that they tend to have a rather small output (recipes will say 8-10 but if you’re a big-bowl-of-soup-as-the-meal person like me, its more like 3-4). My secondary complaint is that my favorite type of blended soup is butternut squash, but most recipes leave it at just that (and some onion). I’ve recently found a great recipe that includes extra veggies and flavors, and have written it below as a double batch so there’s plenty to go around plus leftovers to freeze.

makes 10 big bowls of soup

ingredients

2 large butternut squashes

4 carrots

6 stalks of celery

2 large onion

12 cloves of garlic

14 sage leaves*

10 sprigs of thyme (stems removed)

4 sprigs of rosemary (stems removed)

1 teaspoon cayenne red pepper powder (or less, if you do not want a little kick)

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

8 cups vegetable stock**

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lay out two large roasting pans.

2. Prepare your veggies, splitting the amounts of each between the two roasting pans. Peel, deseed, and chop butternut squashes into 1-inch cubes. Peel and chop carrots into 1-inch rounds. Chop celery into 1-inch chunks. Chop onions into large pieces. Peel garlic and lightly crush or keep cloves whole.

3. Add herbs to pans. Sprinkle cayenne, salt, and pepper over everything, then add oil (about 2 tablespoons per pan) and toss to coat.

4. Roast for one hour, flipping pans halfway and mixing up veggies as needed. It may take up to 90 minutes total for all veggies to become soft and tender (carrots will be last).

5. Remove from oven and blend according to your kitchen equipment.

   • If you have an immersion blender, add all pan contents to a large stock pot, along with 6 cups of vegetable stock, and blend in the pot.

   • If you have a traditional blender, add 1/2 of a pan’s contents and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock to the blender at a time, pureeing for 30-45 seconds until relatively smooth. Pour blended soup into a stock pot, and repeat for remaining veggies until done.

6. In the stock pot, bring soup to a simmer and check for consistency, using remaining vegetable stock to thin as necessary, 1/2 cup at a time.

7. Enjoy immediately with bread.

notes

Because everything gets blended together in the end, feel free to experiment with other vegetables and fruits! Additions or replacements include: bell peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, apple, and pear.

*Dried herbs can also be used in place of fresh herbs. Use 1 teaspoon each of dried sage and thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary.

**This soup is naturally vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free but feel free to garnish with cream or coconut milk, or use chicken stock instead of vegetable.

To freeze, let soup cool to room temperature, pour into airtight food containers, and place in freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in fridge overnight and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.