This fall I spent more than I should have on pumpkins for my front porch (#sorrynotsorry). I didn’t want to let them go to waste so I cut them open, roasted the seeds, and decided to cook the flesh from any of them that Google said were edible. Turns out, only one was recommended for cooking. So, I lugged the giant sucker home for the holidays where my mom had a pot big enough for the soup it was going to make, and where there were more people to help me eat the gallons of soup it made. I really wasn’t following any particular recipe – I just used ideas I had seen in various blogs, Instagram feeds, magazines, cooking shows, and tasted in restaurants, (as evidenced by the random mix of spices used). Also, I decided to cook it all in one giant pot but if someone had the time, patience, and willingness to do dishes, then roasting the squash before cooking it into the soup would be ideal. Alas, I did not so one pot soup it was.  If I make this soup again (and I probably will), I will obviously make a smaller batch. So, the recipe below is my attempt at capturing what I did but also cutting the quantities down to make a more reasonable batch of soup. Honestly, who really needs 3 gallons of squash soup?! *Special thanks to my mom and baby sister for helping me cut, peel, cook down, and blend the massive amounts of squash for this soup.

 

Spiced Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 8 cups of peeled and cubed squash (I used pumpkin, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes in a 4:2:1 ratio)
• 2 sweet onions, chopped (1 onion per 4 cups of squash)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped (1 clove per onion)
• Vegetable stock (enough to cover the onions, and ultimately the squash)
• 2 apples, chopped (1 apple per onion)
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• Poultry seasoning
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Cayenne pepper
•  Salt and pepper
• Heavy cream (optional)

Directions

In a large pot, cook the onions and garlic in enough stock to cover them. Add in the cubed squash and apples and season with salt and pepper. Add in more stock (enough to submerge the squash but not too much to where the squash is floating in stock). Cook down until the squash and apple chunks fall apart when you stir the soup. Add in the seasonings (brown sugar, poultry seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, and cayenne (be careful with this one). Adjust salt and pepper and spices to taste. Stir and cook down another 10 minutes. With an immersion blender (or regular blender or food processor) puree the soup until the desired consistency (I prefer mostly smooth). Taste and adjust seasonings. Continue to cook down until desired thickness (I prefer thicker soup than a runner one with this). If the soup gets too thick, thin out with more stock. Right before serving, add in a few splashes of cream for added richness (optional).