It’s Cold, It’s Wet and I Don’t Care Its Not Fall.. Crockpot Butternut soup

Sometimes you just need a fish, hearty soup to get the chill out of you. Not being one that likes a thin broth style soups – I tend towards ones that are thick. So a good butternut squash soup will always work. This quick (sorta) toss together soup is perfect and done in the crockpot over 5-6 hours. Want to speed it up? Use left over roasted squash from the previous night!

In a Crockpot toss in:

This is at about 4-5 hours

This is at about 4-5 hours

 

  • 2 lbs diced Butternut Squash
  • 1 sweet potato; pealed and diced
  • 1 large apple – chopped into 1 inch cubes with skin ( I use a Granny Smith for its texture and flavor)
  • 1 small – medium diced onion (white) or 2 Leeks chopped
  • 1 3-4 inch stem of Rosemary fresh – pulled off the stem
  • 1 large or 2 small carrots cubed
  • 2 1/2 cups of Vegetable Stock (low sodium)
  • 1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup
  • 1 tablespoon of Honey (or agave)
  • 1 -2 teaspoons of mashed garlic (to taste – I use the tube version)
  • 1/8 of Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
  • 1 good pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon of poultry spice (or fresh sage chopped)
  • 1-2 tablespoons of pepper jelly (any flavor you prefer)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

IMG_9142You want the solids to raise above the liquid by at least 1-1.5 inch. Stir together and let cook on high 4-5 hours, then low for any remaining time. Stir occasionally and taste for seasoning. Once the carrots and easy to pierce with a knife you are pretty much done. Use an emersion hand tool to puree the mixture (or get out you soup attachment for that fancy blender you have sitting on your shelf and blend in smaller batches). It should be on the thick side – somewhat like an orange porridge. Turn off the crockpot by now if you haven’t!

Now these steps differ on personal taste – I like my soup thicker than thin; If you are dairy-free; Mocha Mix brand creamer or canned coconut milk to thin and add a more creamy texture. For those of you who do dairy – this is the time to add your cream, milk and 2 teaspoons of butter. Stir until well mixed.

Technically this isn’t a right to wrong way to do this soup – just use what tastes right.