Fall Roasted Root Vegetable Soup
Image: White ceramic bowl filled with a soup made from roasted golden root vegetables and garnished with a sprig of fresh thyme and garlic bread.
Description: This roasted golden roots soup, made with carrots, butternut squash, and golden beets, is one of my favorite fall soups! One spoonful and you'll be back for more!
Yield: Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
3 pounds (roughly 1 large butternut squash, halved vertically and seeds removed
3 pounds (roughly 4 medium sized) Golden Beets, peeled and chopped
2 pounds Carrots, peeled and chopped
6 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
2 cups filtered water, additionally as needed to aid with blending the vegetables down
1 – 13.5 ounce can Coconut milk
1 tablespoon avocado oil, separated
1 tablespoon butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Thyme
1 teaspoon hot pepper flake
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground tumeric
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Rub the flesh side of the halved butternut squashes with avocado oil (about 1 teaspoon per squash half), salt, and pepper. Toss the carrot and beet chunks with the rest of the avocado oil, salt and pepper.
Place the squash face down on one tray and carrots/beets mix on the second tray and roast until it is tender and completely cooked through, between 50 to 60 minutes, alternating the trays in the oven half way through baking. You want to brown and caramelize the vegetables but periodically check to make sure there is no burning on the bottoms. Set the roasted vegetables aside aside until it’s cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.
While the vegetables are roasting, add 6 cups vegetable broth/prepared bouillon, herbs, onion, and garlic to a medium stock pot. Simmer on low for 45 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavors while the vegetables are roasting. strain the broth and set aside. Your broth should have reduced by about ¼ or so, to roughly 4 to 4 1/2 cups.
Remove broth from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so before you begin blending with the roasted vegetables to reduce the chance of causing burns. If you want the broth to cool more quickly, you can add 1-2 cups of ice to the broth and stir.
With this volume of roasted vegetables, you will need to blend in batches so that you do not overload the blender. Start by blending carrots with enough of the reduced broth in a high powered blender until you reach a smooth consistency. Add this roasted carrot blend to a 4-5 quart soup pot over medium heat.
Repeating this blending step, blending the roasted beets separately with enough of the reduced broth to reach smooth consistency, then add to the soup pot.
Scoop out the roasted squash and blend in the blender with the remaining reduced broth to reach a smooth consistency.
Once all veggies have been blended and added to the 4-5 quart stock pot, simmer again on low for another 15 minutes for all the flavors to marry together.
Add the coconut milk, and simmer for another couple of minutes, stirring to combine.
Plate your soup in a serving bowl, then add the tablespoon of butter on top and garnish with a fresh sprig of thyme. Serve with buttered, toasted, garlic sourdough bread. Enjoy!