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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup


I feel like such a bad blogger.  I was so caught up and busy yesterday that I didn't have time to post a recipe like I had planned!  So, my apologies!  But I promise... today's recipe is insanely delicious and will well make up for it!

I love fall... obviously.  I've said it a million times since fall started.  And one of the things I love most about fall is the abundance of delicious soups!  Whether it's a hearty bowl of chili, or a nice bowl of classic chicken noodle soup... if it's fall... I've got pretty good odds that I'll be having a bowl of something MANY times over.

So, being bored the other night, I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment soup which I plan to make many times over because it was so delicious!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
2 small, white-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup grated apple
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
fresh watercress (optional)

Melt the butter in a large pot on medium high heat, then add the onion.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until onion starts to soften.  Add the potatoes and squash and stir.  Let cook another 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so.

Add the apple cider, grated apple, and chicken stock.  Stir and cover the pot.  Let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Using an immersion blender (be careful now!), blend vegetables until smooth and creamy.  Once blended, season with salt, pepper and spices.  You can add or subtract the amount of spice based on your preferences, of course.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with a few sprigs of watercress.  

Seriously, this is fall in a bowl.  The butternut is the main star, with the subtle apple flavors playing back up.  Every bite is a unique layer of flavor.  This is something you all need to go make now.  It will warm you up and make you smile!  


 Again... thanks for bearing with me on this better late than never post!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend guys and be safe!

Butternut Squash

23 comments:

  1. apples and pumpkin sounds and looks delicious

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  2. That looks delicious! Love the idea of adding apples to pumpkin soup. Thanks for stopping by, talk to you soon, Giorgia

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  3. Delicious!!! I love the spoon photo. Looks like a beautiful painting!

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  4. You used two of the dominating ingredients of this season, squash and apples. I love them both. I am sure the soup would be awesome

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  5. I can imagine squash and apples make a lovely combo! This is like a bowl of sunshine! Enjoy your weekend!

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  6. Hey Peggy! Nice to find you here in the blogosphere;-)
    Your soup looks wonderful. I love butternut squash soup, but I've never had it with apples. I will definitely try it this way!

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  7. I'm a soup fanatic too, particularly during the colder months. I love what you've done here. I make soups of sweet potatoes and of butternut squash, usually with Indian-style spices, but I've never thought to combine the two vegetables. The touches of apples, apple cider, and the spice blend you've used here sound absolutely DEE-licious. Must try!

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  8. The last picture is really gorgeous! This soup looks divine, I'm a big fan of squash soups, and with apples.. yum!!

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  9. I love fall just like you. The colors of fall attract me.

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  10. Don't you worry about stepping away for a few days. Life gets crazy (especially at this time of the year!). This soup looks delicious. I adore warm soups and I adore fall days. Thank you for sharing!

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  11. What a wonderful soup. I love fall too, and all of the flavors that come with it. I am bookmarking this, I am definitely intrigued with the combination of the squash and the apple. I would never have thought to combine the two but it sounds delicious!

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  12. Beautiful. And god bless the immersion blender.

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  13. What a beautiful combo..hearty n comforting!

    US Masala

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  14. Hi Peggy,

    Thank you for the sweet words on my blog. Congrats on the engagement! I'll bet you're a busy girl these days :-). Your soup looks and sounds delicious. I love butternut squash soup, but have never had it with apples. Fall is definitely soup season :-P. Thank you for the lovely recipe.

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  15. I have a similar recipe and can say from experience that this soup is utterly divine!

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  16. This soup looks like the fulfillment of all my dreams . . . =) I'll have to make it soon!

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  17. It's that time of year again! Soup time! My favorite!!

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  18. That sounds great-we were cooking similar but different soups at about the same time -got to love fall!
    I'll have to try your version now too...mmmm
    ~GJ

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  19. Love the combination of squash and apples! Beautiful colour and looks really delicious! Thank you for visiting me. You have a lovely site. I'm your new follower. Will be back to browse! Have a nice day.

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  20. Like the butternut squash and apple combo, never tried it before. Thanks for the tip!

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  21. This looks delicious! The kitchn had a version of a squash/apple soup a few weeks ago that was garnished with apple and also delicious. I'm intrigued by the addition of sweet potatoes in your version, though.

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