Roasted Butternut Soup with Thyme
Rated 5 stars by 2 users
Ingredients
-
3 lbs butternut squash, honey-nut squash, acorn squash, or a combination of all three
-
4 oz thick-cut smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Mineral salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400º. Cut the squashes in half and de-seed them. Brush the tallow onto the inside of the squash halves and season each with salt. Place the halves cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the squash meat is fork-tender.
Remove from the oven.
When it's cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop out the roasted squash and set aside.
- In a large pot, sauté the bacon over moderate heat, until it's crispy on all sides. Move the bacon pieces to a separate plate and set aside.
- To the bacon fat, add onion, thyme, maple syrup, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Add the roasted squash and bacon to the broth, stirring to incorporate, then season with salt, and bring the soup to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the cream and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the soup to a blender (or use an immersion blender in the pot) and puree until smooth. Add additional bone broth if needed to reach the desired consistency. Return the mixture to the saucepan and warm.
Garnish with fresh thyme and serve. To make it heartier, add pulled chicken to the soup after pureeing. We often use rotisserie chicken for ease!
