Spicy Chipotle Butternut Squash & Carrot Soup

I’ve been digging on soup a lot lately. I’ve always loved it but I guess I always thought it was more time consuming to make than it usually is. I imagined having to simmer large pots for hours, but really most everything I’ve made lately has been quick and not too difficult, and the outcome is very satisfying. While I like some Progresso every once in a while, there is something I enjoy about using fresh vegetables and hand making it all. 

It’s the time of the season for butternut squash, a vegetable I don’t have often, but I have always liked whenever I’ve eaten it. Butternut squash soup isn’t exactly a new concept, but ya gotta start somewhere, right?

I looked at a lot of recipes online and came up with my own creation, so this is kind of an original recipe. 

First, in the picture at the top of this post you can see I am roasting a halved butternut squash and three carrots. The oven was at 385 and I roasted them for about 45 mins (turning the carrots twice). The butternut squash was seeded, but not peeled. 

Here’s what the squash looked like after roasting. You can see that I checked with a fork to ensure it was tender. I scooped out the flesh with a spoon the best I could and set it aside with the chopped carrots and started on the base of the soup. 

To start I sauteed 1/4 of a finely chopped onion and 1 large minced clove of garlic in some olive oil. After 3-4 minutes I added two minced chipotles in adobo sauce (seeds included). 

Then I added the carrot and squash and 3 cups of low sodium vegetable broth and brought it to a boil. 

I brought it back down to a simmer and cooked it for another 10 minutes, adding 1/2 cup more of broth to maintain the consistency I wanted. 

Then I pureed the whole thing in my food processor. Above is the blurry results. A garnish would have added a lot to the presentation. It looks like baby food otherwise. 

And here I am enjoying it. 

 It tasted very fresh and the heat &flavor from the chipotle balanced out the sweetness of the squash nicely. I could have used 1 chipotle only because it was somewhat too spicy. The consistency was just what I wanted, so overall this really hit the spot and I was quite happy with attempt #1. 

This was just the first course, but the main course will be saved for tomorrow’s post (hint: cheese + potato + butter + pasta).

Tagged as: butternut, butternut squash, butternut squash soup, chipotle butternut squash soup, soup, spicy butternut squash soup, wintertime soup