Am I sad about summer ending? Not really! I am definitely a Fall girl– in fact, I absolutely LOVE the fall season! Connecticut is the perfect state for me since we have 4 seasons here and every few months, I tend to get excited about the next season– but my greatest seasonal love is fall. As the leaves change color and the weather turns colder and my comfy sweaters and jeans start to make a comeback out of the recesses of my closet, my warmer palate also starts to surface. This is the time when my family enjoys hearty stews and nourishing soups.
Over the past few weeks I have been preparing for some upcoming cooking classes that I will be teaching at the Cookshop Plus in West Hartford CT. The classes will be in the fall so I have been experimenting with different fall menus to offer at the classes. My favorite fall cuisine often begins with a nourishing winter squash soup. What I love most about these soups is that they are interchangeable in so many ways using the wide array of winter squash that begin to be more available as fall comes around. My go-to is usually butternut squash with apple plus autumn seasonings like cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and cloves. Here is one of my favorite recipes for a butternut squash & apple soup. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
Ingredients:
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 quarts chicken broth, or just enough to cover veggies and apple (can substitute with vegetable broth if vegetarian)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup maple syrup
Method:
- Add oil to soup pot and when heated, add onions to caramelize
- When onions are softened, add squash, sweet potato, apple, chicken broth, sea salt and all spices
- Bring to boil and then lower to simmer
- Let simmer until all vegetables and apple are soft
- Add maple syrup
- Use immersion blender (hand blender) to blend ingredients in pot (can also wait until soup is slightly cooled and blend in blender
- Enjoy!