Robust Butternut Squash and roasted vegetable Soup

 Fall is absolutely in the air, we are one day in, and Autumn wasted no time arriving swiftly and promptly. The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp, and at attention, chilled and cheerful. I love Autumn because it truly brings me back to when i fell in love with my husband over 13 years ago on the curb of Grace Bible college. We both love to just stand outside, hands interlocked, allow the air to swim through us and around us, and we love to remember and allow the magical feeling of falling in love to come back. It is a gift, to be sure. 

Another wonderful aspect of fall that i love is soup season. It is welcomed, not questioned, to be pulling out the soup recipes, sharing in warm flavors, hot food to coat your insides, and I just love love soup. 

Today's recipe is kind of a revamp of an old recipe i started out with years ago. I was still a new cook back then, and did not even know my way around a roast vegetable, and butternut squash was still a foreign food that i was only beginning to explore. Now, i think taking roasted butternut squash along with other favorite root vegetables such as sweet potato, tri colored carrots, and whole garlic would make a fantastic soup after low and slow in the oven, culminating into all those depthy flavors creating a fantastic soup. 
Let's dive into it, shall we?

You'll need:

1 large butternut squash, cut in half, pulp and seeds removed 

1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled, and cut into chunks

1-2 whole garlic bulbs, tops cut

1 cup of tri colored carrots, chopped, or whole if using baby carrots 

1 large red onion, skin removed, cut into chunks

1 can of pumpkin puree 

1 teaspoon turmeric 

1 teaspoon garam masala 

1 teaspoon red chili powder 

1 teaspoon cumin

1-2 cans chicken or vegetable stock 

1 can full fat coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon thyme 

1 teaspoon oregano 

pepper 

1 teaspoon italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon tarragon 

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 

On a large baking sheet, place cut vegetables and squash (skin side up, flesh side down) and drizzle with a bit of grapeseed oil and sprinkled with the spices and some salt. 

Pop in the oven at 375 for about an hour. Low and slow, remember?

In a large pot, once veggies are done roasting, drop them in the pot, removing flesh from squash and adding that too.  squeeze roasted garlic out of skin as well, and get everyone in the pot!

Add chicken stock and begin to stir and mix chunks. Add more spices, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. 

Once soupy mixture is mixed together, you can puree it with an immersion blender, or you can take batches and blend in the blender. 

Add everything back to pot, and add coconut milk and canned pumpkin. Again, you're just going to stir and mix and test and taste-add spices or salt, whatever you think it needs more of. 

blend, stir, and heat thoroughly. 

I like to toast some pepitas, or pumpkin seeds in a little butter with some crushed walnuts, and then sprinkle those over the soup with a tiny drizzle of heavy cream. 

Serve with your favorite hearty bread, and enjoy!