My Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Submitted by coconutty

"I don't like peeling and cutting butternut squash, so I use ready-cut squash when I can. Frozen butternut squash also works very well. If you want to use a fresh butternut squash, use one that is about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. I use almond milk (I like Almond Breeze) instead of cream or half and half. You can save a little time by roughly chopping the onion and garlic, because it will be pureed later. I do chop the ginger rather finely because it is so fibrous, and I don't want lumps in the soup that didn't get pureed."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 32 -36 ounces peeled and cubed butternut squash (weighed after peeling)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1⁄2 large onion, chopped
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons minced fresh gingerroot
• 4 cups chicken broth (I use organic low-sodium)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg (or more to taste)
• almond milk (I use Almond Breeze unsweetened original or unsweetened vanilla)
• fresh ground pepper
• salt

directions

1. If you are using a fresh butternut squash, cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Peel it and cut it into 1-inch chunks.
2. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until it softens, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger root and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the cubed squash and broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook at a gentle boil until the squash is fork-tender, about 10-20 minutes (but this depends on the size of your squash cubes). DO NOT OVERCOOK.
5. Puree the soup in several stages in a blender. For safety's sake, since the soup is hot, do not fill the jar more than about 1/4 full each time, and blend on a low speed, covering the lid with an oven mitt.
6. Rinse your soup pot to remove any small chunks of food. Pour the soup back into the pot.
7. Heat the soup through again and season to taste with cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and salt.
8. Add some almond milk, a little at a time, to give soup a creamier consistency. (Instead of almond milk or Almond Breeze, you could probably use soy or rice milk or half and half).

9. SOME TIPS:

10. This soup tastes fine when it has been reheated. The soup will thicken as it chills, so you may want to add extra spice right at the start, if you know you will be re-heating some later. You will need extra Almond Breeze to thin it out after it has been refrigerated. I have kept it in the fridge for as long as 4 days and it was fine.
11. If you don't have the full amount of butternut squash, you can sub 1 stalk of peeled and cubed zucchini.
12. You can sub pumpkin pie spice for the ground spices listed.
13. I like the soup when it is not totally pureed -- that is, I like to leave a few small lumps, so one batch of soup does not get pureed in the blender, only briefly pulsated on and off.
14. Note to myself: this was the spice blend that tasted best to me: 1/8 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 level teaspoon nutmeg plus 1/4 slightly rounded teaspoon cinnamon.