A few months ago a very dear friend and excellent chef invited me over to her home for brunch and she made the most tasty soup I had ever had the pleasure of slurping. Not being a usual fan of soup I was quite taken aback my the complexity of the flavors and the creamy, thick texture of the soup she made. Because I was so in love with her soup I just had to have the recipe. My soup-aficionado friend pointed me towards a recipe she had found online at Food Wine Thyme while searching for “fennel soups” and she also advised me of the changes she made.
I have recently started an attempt to expand my daily veggie consumption I felt prompted to make my friends soup in the dutch oven. Since this is a broth based soup and contains so many delicious vegetables this soup is not only tasty, it’s totally do-able for a week night meal. I made a few modifications to the original Food Wine Thyme recipe to fit better in to my picky family’s pallet.
Roasted Butternut Squash & Fennel Soup Recipe
Perfect for any season, this soup is most excellent in the Fall and Winter when summer squashes are plentiful. It may seem like this recipe requires a lot of ingredients, but if you shop locally and seasonally you will find that this recipe yields quite a bit for the price of the ingredients. This roasted squash and fennel soup recipe, which has been adapted from Food Wine Thyme’s “Roasted Butternut Squash and Fennel Soup” is creamy with a robust earthy flavor and would be excellent paired with a spinach salad.
Ingredients:
1 large Butternut Squash – peeled and cut into cubes
1 Fennel bulb – cut into pieces
1 Cup Carrots – peeled and cut into slices
1 White onion – chopped
1 Garlic Clove – minced
1/2 Teaspoon Thyme
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1/4 Cup Fat Free Half & Half
Pinch of Cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash, fennel and carrots with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season with pepper and spread on to a foil lined baking sheet. Roast in oven until vegetables are soft and can be pierced with a fork.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in dutch oven, saute onion, garlic and thyme until onion is soft.
3. Add roasted butternut squash, fennel and chicken broth to dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Season with a pinch of cinnamon (or nutmeg).
5. With a slotted spoon, scoop up vegetables and puree in food processor until smooth and there are no more chunks. Replace back in dutch oven and stir.
6. Stir in half & half
Enjoy!
Step-By-Step in Pictures
1. Cut Butternut Squash in half, remove seeds
2. Peel butternut squash with vegetable peeler
3. Chop squash into 1 inch cubes
4. Fresh Fennel (my grocery store only had organic)
5. Chop off green fennel stems, chop fennel bulb into strips
6. Toss squash, fennel and carrots with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with pepper.
7. Saute onions, garlic and thyme in dutch oven with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
8. Add roasted vegetables and 5 cups of low sodium chicken stock to to dutch oven
9. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes
10. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon, place in food processor. Puree vegetables until smooth, poor back into pot, season with pinch of cinnamon (or nutmeg) and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of fat free half & half. Enjoy!
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