From the California Café, this luscious, decadent, delicious soup makes a great addition as an appetizer or on a buffet.
Makes 8 1-cup servings
Ingredients
- 2 lbs butternut squash (1-2 squash)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup carrot, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, whole
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 1 pinch each: ground nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tbs pumpkin puree
- sour cream, chopped chives and toasted pumpkin seed for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300° F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place the halves face down in a pan or on a baking sheet, place in the oven and roast for 1 hour.
- Heat the butter in a large pan. Sauté the onions, carrot, celery and garlic until translucent (approx. 5 min).
- When the squash is done roasting, remove from the oven, scoop out the flesh from the peel and discard peel. Add the squash along with the stock to a large soup pot.
- Bring the squash and stock to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the brown sugar, spices and maple syrup. Stir and remove from heat. Stir in the heavy cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend the mixture with a hand blender, food processor or blender until smooth. You can add the pumpkin purée before blending or swirl it in at the end.
- If desired, top each serving with a spoonful of sour cream, chopped chives and toasted pumpkin seeds.
