Roasted Squash and Carrot Soup with Red-Veined Sorrel
You don’t need the red-veined sorrel for this, but isn’t it pretty? I happen to grow it in my garden and really don’t like the tough, fibrous leaves, but they make for a gorgeous garnish. Use parsley or green sorrel or a little dived preserved lemon, or some grated lemon zest, or just a swirl of lemon juice instead.
The trick is to roast the vegetables, which caramelizes them and gives the soup a richer flavour. You could peel the squash and cube it and then roast, which would caramelize more of the squash, but that’s way too much effort for soup, I feel. This is the easy way, resulting in just enough caramelization with little effort.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut, buttercup or acorn squash (or other squash; butternut will yield the highest squash-to-carrot ratio)
- 5 large carrots, peeled and chopped in large chunks (I just chop them in half sometimes and leave it at that because life’s too short)
- 1 whole onion or a bunch of green onions
- 1 clove to 1 head of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5-8 cups chicken or vegetable broth or broth plus water
- salt and pepper to taste
- red-veined sorrel or something else (see above) to garnish
Instructions
- Leave the onion unpeeled, but trim the bottom of the green onions if using. Place on large baking sheet. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and slimy bits. Place the carrots, green onions and whole clove of garlic or head of garlic in a large bowl, then pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the cupped palm of your hand followed by a half teaspoon (or so) of salt. Coat your hands, then coat the vegetables in the bowl. Finish by coating the insides of the sliced, unpeeled squash with whatever’s left on your hands.
- Place the squash cut-side-down on the baking sheet and toss the vegetables from the bowl around. Wrap the whole head of garlic in aluminium foil if using. Bake in a preheated 400˚F oven for 25 minutes. Remove the clove of garlic, if using, but leave the head. Remove the green onions.
- Leave the squash face-down, but use a spatula to turn the other vegetables for more caramelization. Return sheet to the oven for 20 more minutes, or until vegetables are soft or almost soft.
- Remove sheet from the oven and flip over squash to let cool for a minute. Transfer carrots to a large soup pot along with the whole green onions. Peel the onion and squeeze the garlic from its cloves into the pot. Scoop out the flesh of the squash and add to pot (discard skin if tough; if tender, you can just add it to the pot, too, since it’ll be puréed – it’s extra fibre).
- Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Purée soup in batches in blender or use an immersion blender. Thin with more broth or water if you want. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.
- Garnish with sorrel.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 2068Total Fat: 121gSaturated Fat: 33gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 75gCholesterol: 847mgSodium: 884mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 218g
This nutritional info is automatically generated and is often a bit off, so please take it with a (non-literal) grain of salt.
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