Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Garlic and Herbs
This savory Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Garlic and Herbs has enough heft to make for a cozy meal as the weather gets chilly. You can also serve it as a first course as part of an elegant fall dinner.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: stove top and roasting
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 medium to large acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 head garlic
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 to 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped; or 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 can of cannellini beans, 14.5 ounces, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare the garlic for roasting. Cut the root end off the head of garlic, exposing the bottom of the garlic cloves. Drizzle exposed cloves with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil, and place in the oven to roast. It will take approximately 45 minutes to roast to the point where the roast garlic is soft and can easily be squeezed out of the skin. When ready, set the roasted garlic aside to cool.
- Roast the acorn squash along with the garlic. After cutting the squash and removing seeds, drizzle one tablespoon of the olive oil on over the squash flesh. Place the squash flesh side down on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, until the squash is soft. When ready, the skin will pierce easily when poked with a fork. Put aside to cool.
- Start cooking other ingredients after the squash has been roasting for about 25 minutes, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes until it starts getting soft. Stir in the carrots, and sauté for a few more minutes.
- Add the stock to the soup pot along with the bay leaf, and stir to combine. Simmer for about 15 minutes so that the carrots get soft.
- Scoop in the squash: After the squash has cooled and the soup has simmered about 15 minutes, scoop the acorn squash flesh from the shell. Add the squash into the soup and stir vigorously to combine it thoroughly. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and stir it into the soup. Then add the sage and thyme. Simmer for about 15 minutes more.
- Finish the soup: After about 30 minutes of total simmering, stir in the cannellini beans. Simmer another 5 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat. Then purée the soup to a consistent creamy texture, using an immersion blender if you have one. Alternatively, you can transfer the soup into a food processor or blender in batches to purée. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve and enjoy! Serve topped with a bit of extra Parmesan cheese, and optional croutons. Or serve it with some nice crusty bread…and some Oregon Pinot Noir if you are so inclined!
Notes
- Use vegetable stock to make this vegetarian; and skip the cheese (or use non-dairy) to make it vegan.
- If serving this as a starter, you might choose to skip the beans to make it a bit lighter.
Find it online: https://cookingchatfood.com/roasted-acorn-squash-soup/
