Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Recipe from www.arascalrelish.com

makes 3 quarts— 1 quart serves 4 for dinner, then freeze what’s left!

Ingredients:

1 medium acorn squash
1 small butternut squash
1 large orange sweet potato, chopped 
1 large yellow onion, halved
7 cloves garlic, peeled 
a sprig each of  fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano, roughly chopped
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
3 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 ¼ qt veggie or chicken stock

optional additions:
 1 inch piece ginger, chopped
roasted pumpkin seeds
½ c coconut milk

Directions:

halve and de-seed both squashes, then cut into chunks. peel the onion and 5 garlic cloves. combine in an oven safe dish and coat generously with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. roast at 425º until the squashes and sweet potatoes are tender. let cool for a few minutes, and then remove the squash skins. 

heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. add the remaining onion to the heated oil, and saute until fragrant. add the remaining garlic and ginger, then the carrots and celery and saute for a few minutes. add everything from the roasting pan, including all the oil and herbs. mix all the sauteed and roasted veggies together. add the stock, taste to adjust seasoning as needed,  and simmer for about an hour. 

puree the soup until creamy with no chunks, adding the optional coconut milk at this point. soup is ready to eat as soon as it’s pureed, and can be frozen for months. defrost by submerging in warm water until melted.