My dutch oven is here to stay. It is officially the time of year to make lots and lots of soup/stew/chili, what have you. Soups are the best. Why? Because you’ve always got leftovers, you can make soup out of practically anything you’ve got hiding in your pantry, and your tummy always feels warm and happy. Get me some homemade soup, a good loaf of crusty bread for dunking, and watch me curl up into a ball of cold weather happiness.
My first soup of the season was a savory black bean soup. I have every intention of posting the recipe once I make it again and get a few good photos, but until then let’s get started with a classic fall soup consisting of two fall staples: apples and butternut squash. I went on a fall foliage tour this weekend with my parents through west central Ohio, and then followed that up with a day long trip to Ohio’s Amish Country on Columbus Day. I’ll have more on that in another post, but these fall themed excursions left me with a big pile of apples & a hefty supply of squash.
I forgot since last fall how long it takes me to peel and cube a butternut, but I could definitely tell my bakery job is making my hands and forearms a lot stronger. Once I got through the butternut and peeling/coring/cubing 4 apples, I was so glad I was only 20 minutes away from soup. That’s the thing about soups and stews… unless I’m popping it in the crockpot early in the AM to be ready by dinner, I have trouble fussing over a recipe that takes over an hour to prepare. After a quick prep & 20-30 minutes in the dutch oven, I’m ready to be eating. This soup is no exception. I served this soup with a loaf of cranberry walnut crusty bread from Blackbird Baking Company (mmm,mmm) and the combo of apple, squash, cranberry, and walnut made me feel like Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka when she ate the 5 course meal gum. My senses were seriously under the impression that Thanksgiving dinner had come early this year. Don’t you love how food evokes memories?
Also, this recipe is so simple. Not too many ingredients, and relatively inexpensive ones at that.
apple butternut soup
1 large butternut squash, peeled & cubed (1”)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 TBS canola oil
4 large apples, peeled, cored, cubed (I used Honey Crisp)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
sea salt to taste
In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion in the oil until translucent. Add all the ingredients into the pot. Cover, bring to a boil, and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until butternut is soft. Puree the soup through your food processor, with a handheld blender, or scoop out into your regular blender (thats what I did) and pour back into pot. Serve with crusty bread.
Once everything is diced and sliced, just dump it in the pot bring it to a boil & then lower heat to simmer for 20 minutes or until the butternut is soft.
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cannot wait to try this!
Comment by Sarah October 14, 2010 @ 8:12 pm[...] sweet potato & black bean stew, oh and then there was that delicious lentil soup, and the apple squash one, too.. soo many soups! So when we had bookoodles of leftover tortillas from the night we made [...]
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