Garden Bounty Great for Making Soup

MSU Senior Executive Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski has shared this one with us:

Roasted Squash Soup

1 butternut squash

1 teaspoon plus 2 Tablespoons olive oil

½ cup diced onion

½ cup diced carrots

½ cup diced celery

5 cups vegetable broth (add more if needed to thin soup out)

1½ Tablespoons cumin, ground

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (*more or less, depending upon spice level)

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons organic butter

**garnish might be chopped spinach leaves and diced red peppers, maybe cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut squash in half lengthwise...scoop seeds (save if you want to roast off later). Place squash face down in a roasting pan with 1-2 cups of water in the pan and roast for 25-30 minutes. Flip squash face up, brush the teaspoon of oil across the squash-flesh surface, season with salt and pepper, and return to oven for 15-20 minutes till squash is cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool a little.

In a soup/stock pot heat remaining oil up and sauté onion, carrots and celery for 10-12 minutes.

Deglaze the pot with about 2 cups of the vegetable broth...scoop squash from skin and add to the pot. Stir ingredients to mix the squash and vegetables together well.

Put about 3 cups of the heated squash mixture in the blender at a time and blend on high while adding more broth to thin out. Remove blended mixture and place into a separate bowl or pot to finish the soup. After everything is blended, scrape out the blender with a spatula, and return soup to a pot and heat to medium-low.

Bring soup up to a simmer, add seasonings and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper as needed and whisk in butter. Serve with optional garnish.