Apple and butternut squash soup
beginning of fall
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Hello,
I hope you are all doing well, at the beginning of fall!
In this issue, I’m sharing a golden soup recipe and I’ve got some other early-fall things going on.
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There was a Harvest full moon this past Monday and the 23rd was the first day of autumn, so we are officially in the fall season. In the spirit of that, I made an early-fall apple-squash soup from Witch in the Kitchen by Cait Johnson. I got the squash and the potatoes I used from the market (organic!) and I used garlic, apple, and onion that I had on hand.
I like blended soups, I love butternut squash, and I like that this recipe was a variation that included apple, both raw apple and — Mm! — apple cider.
Apple-Squash Soup
Adapted from original recipe by Cait Johnson (Witch in the Kitchen)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth —> you can also use other broth, for example chicken broth, and bouillon mixed with water if that’s what you have - this is what I did!
2 cups filtered apple cider or apple juice
2 cups acorn or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced —> I used butternut squash; for ~2 cups diced you want a roughly medium-sized butternut squash (weighing 1 to 2 pounds)
1 large potato, peeled and diced (original recipe suggests a Yukon gold potato)
1 firm, tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced
Nutmeg, ginger (freshly grated or powdered); salt, pepper to taste
Heavy cream, for finishing (optional)
Serve with salad and toast. Original recipe suggests the following optional toppings: chopped walnuts, fresh parsley, sour or whipped cream, nutmeg.
1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion. Sauté until golden on medium heat.
2. Add the vegetable broth, apple cider or juice, and diced veg—squash, potato, and apple—and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until squash, potatoes, and apple are tender. —> The original recipe says this takes about 30 minutes, I made a large batch and mine went even faster—keep an eye on it, the timing probably depends on your stove and how small you chop your veg, etc.
3. Add the seasonings. —> I used powdered nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
4. Puree the soup in batches in a food processor or blender. Then return to the pot and gently reheat. —> You may need to bring the temperature up and cook the soup down a bit if it’s not thick enough or the desired consistency.
5. Finish the soup with a little bit of heavy cream, if you like, stirring it in. (Original recipe suggests using light cream.) And/or finish with any other toppings you like, or serve as is. Serve warm. (Keep leftovers and reheat, adding water to the soup as needed.)
I made along with this soup a kale salad with dried cranberries, cashews, oil, and vinegar. Served with the salad and toasted sourdough slices, this soup was a good autumn meal! You can also play a bit with amounts and seasonings. I used a few small white potatoes instead of a large one, for example, and the original recipe doesn’t call for pepper.
—> This soup is vegetarian if you follow the original version, using vegetable broth 🥬
—> It can also be made vegan if you omit finishing with heavy cream 🐄 !
Fall is certainly making itself known around here, although it’s (thankfully) still going a bit slowly—for now. There are some flowers left and a few small trees have turned red, some of the maple leaves are red and falling, but it’s not totally ablaze yet. I’ve been collecting flowers and leaves and drying them, to hopefully use in some wreaths, and a few weeks ago we were able to forage some blackberries. We also picked some raspberries on a local farm, and we are hoping to get some more fall ones soon. We know winter’s coming fast and there is a LOT to do before then!
Let me know if you try out the soup recipe! I’ll hopefully have some more things to share soon. Please like, comment on, and share this newsletter! I would love to hear from you.
-L
