Simplest Oven Roasted Squash Soup {Recipe}

Rachel — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:38:26 +0000

Earlier this week, we were slated to bring a soup to family dinner with Alex’s parents. I spied our last local pie pumpkin languishing on the counter and thought of squash soup.

I typically make winter squash soup by oven roasting the squash, sautéing onions and garlic in oil, and then pureeing everything together. This time I was exhausted from another bout of sinus pain. I didn’t feel like dicing the onion and happened upon another thought – what if I roasted everything together?

The lazy girl’s inclination turned out to be a stroke of brilliance. Pumpkin halves, onion, garlic, and parsnip bathed in an oil-rubbed sauna for about 40 minutes while I put my feet up and watched a football bowl game. On the second rack of the oven, I roasted the pumpkin seeds.

Then I simply scraped all the slightly charred, softened vegetables into a pot and added stock from the freezer and herbs from the backyard. I whizzed the soup smooth with the immersion blender and topped with roasted seeds. The resulting soup is earthy and rich with caramelized flavors from the roasted vegetables.

I’ve been at this home cooking thing for a long time and I don’t usually change much about the way I make traditional dishes. But sometimes the simplest thing surprises me. I’ll never make squash soup the old way again.

Simplest Oven-Roasted Squash Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4

Serving Size: large bowls

Make this nutritious, flavorful soup with your favorite winter squash. Use a meatless stock for a vegetarian or vegan version.

Ingredients

1 hard winter squash (acorn, pumpkin, butternut, etc.)
2 small onions
3 cloves garlic
2 parsnips or carrots
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups poultry or vegetable stock - homemade method here
1 tablespoon fresh or two teaspoons dried herbs - I used thyme still amazingly fresh in the garden
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
roasted seeds for garnish (optional but you have the seeds and the oven on already, so why not?)

Instructions

Halve squash and remove seeds to a bowl. If roasting seeds, cover with water and set aside.
Place squash cut side down on a baking sheet.
Chop onions into quarters and peel garlic cloves and parsnip/carrots. Chop parsnip or carrots into rough 3 inch sections. Place all on the baking sheet.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the vegetables and place in a 325 degree oven.
If making seeds, remove them from pumpkin innards and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet now. Drizzle with soy sauce, olive oil, salt, pepper and/or your favorite spice blend. Place in the oven.
Every 10 minutes, stir vegetables and seeds. Cook vegetables until squash is soft, about 40 minutes. Roast seeds until they are crispy, about 30 minutes. Remove from the stove and allow vegetables to cool to the touch.
Scrape flesh from the skin into a medium pot. Add the onions, garlic, and parsnips and cover with vegetable stock.
Turn the heat to medium and season with herbs, white pepper, and salt. Allow to come to a boil.
Puree with an immersion or stand mixer. Do this carefully as the ingredients are hot and can burn. Return to the pot and continue cooking until service, adjusting seasonings as desired. Watch carefully as this thick soup has a tendency to burble and splatter.
Serve in soup bowls with a pile of roasted seeds on top to garnish.

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Added to Simple Lives Thursday #77.

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Simplest Oven Roasted Squash Soup {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Pantry Roasted Tomato Soup

Rachel — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:08:10 +0000

Do you ever come home to an empty fridge but still want something delicious to eat?

We recently returned from the Mid Atlantic coast. Without time for a trip to the grocery store, I wanted a simple healthy meal we could make from pantry ingredients. Knowing that we had plenty of home canned tomatoes in the larder, I invented this recipe for tomato soup and served it with toasted cheese.

This tomato soup is made from only seven ingredients which are found in a well stocked pantry. The oven roasting adds depth of flavor and caramelized goodness.

Pantry Roasted Tomato Soup

Two quarts whole or pieced tomatoes
One medium onion, chopped roughly
Three cloves garlic, halved (or one half teaspoon garlic powder)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 ice cube block of frozen pesto (substitute a tablespoon of dried italian herbs if no pesto is on hand)
1 Parmesan rind (we keep these in a ziploc bag in the freezer per Lisa the Waitress’ brilliant suggestion)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Strain tomatoes from their juice, reserving it for later. Place tomato pieces, fresh onion and garlic in a large roasting pan with a heavy pinch of salt. Drizzle olive oil over top and place in a 350 degree oven for one to two hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring tomato juice + 1 cup water (use stock if you have it for richer flavor) to a simmer. Add the Parmesan rind, pesto block or herbs, and several twists of freshly ground black pepper.

Remove onions, garlic, and tomatoes from the oven. Blend with an immersion or standard blender until smooth. Adjust seasonings and add the balsamic vinegar.

Add to the juice mixture and simmer for a half hour. Serve warm.

Following this recipe exactly yields a tasty basic tomato soup. There are plenty of variations on the recipe depending on what’s in your pantry. For instance:

Omit parm rind if you don’t have it (you may need to increase salt)
Stir in some cream just before serving
Top with sour cream, shredded cheese or plain yogurt
Substitute chili powder, cilantro and cumin for the italian herbs
Dice onions and garlic before roasting and skip the blender for a rustic style soup

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Pantry Roasted Tomato Soup is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Hounds In The Kitchen » soup

Simplest Oven Roasted Squash Soup {Recipe}

Pantry Roasted Tomato Soup