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Foodist Approved: 4-Ingredient Silky Butternut Soup
butternut and leek soup
I’ve got a feeling that 2015 is going to be a good year for you. Why? Because you’re finally going to learn to cook—and cook well.
So well that eating out just won’t impress you much anymore. Once you start donning that apron, you’ll find yourself thinking, “I could have made this better myself.”
This realization is kind of a bummer every time you eat out, but it’s definitely good for the wallet and waistline.
To get you warmed up (resolutions never last unless you ease into them), here’s a foolproof recipe for Silky Butternut Soup.
This flavorful wholesome soup requires just four ingredients and a few basic seasonings that are probably already sitting on your spice rack. The creamy richness you’re about to indulge in comes from the tahini, no dairy needed.
An immersion blender (stick blender) is a useful tool to have in your kitchen for pureeing soups and sauces.
To dress this soup up for a dinner party, top it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a handful of toasted pecans.
Foodist Approved: 4-Ingredient Silky Butternut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 2-pound butternut squash, peeled and seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 large leeks, tops removed, halved and thinly sliced
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame seeds)
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- cinnamon (optional garnish)
- toasted pecan pieces (optional garnish)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400 (or 375 if your oven has a convection setting). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
Place the butternut on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, toss then sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss again and spread out the butternut on the sheet.
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes then flip the pieces with a spatula and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until the squash is soft and lightly browned.
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and sauté, stirring continuously, until soft about 5 minutes.
Add the broth, tahini and roasted butternut. Immerse your stick blender fully in the soup and blend on high until smooth (or use a regular blender––don’t blend hot liquid).
Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed. If the soup is too thick, thin with a little broth or water.
Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and toasted pecans.
Elyse Kopecky is a food writer, recipe developer, whole foods advocate, and marketing consultant. After 10 years working for Nike and EA Sports, Elyse decided to pursue her passion for talking about and writing about food. She went to NYC to study culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute and has taken cooking classes throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Follow Elyse’s adventures in the kitchen @ElyseKopecky.
Hello! In our family we often make pumpkin or squash soups – delicious! It recently occurred to me that our soups are always blended until smooth. Is it still healthy vs chunky soups? Surely, it must make the digestion much faster when it’s basically a think liquid. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks a lot!
Oh, another question that I’ve had for a while now (sorry for another comment!) is about tahini: is it actually healthy? I read in past it’s a source of Omega 6 oils, which should be avoided. Is there truth in that?
My currect reality is I’m absolutely addicted to tahini. I eat it with natural yogurt every single evening after dinner. I could eat it with a spoon without anything! I prefer it to chocolate. Surely, these are not good signs!?! 😀
Should I have it only occassionally or is it fine on a regular basis? Thanks!!
I have a suggestion to make this recipe even easier. It can be a real pain to peel and chop a butternut squash and you don’t need beautiful even cubes for this recipe, since you’re planning to blend it anyway. So I just place the whole butternut squash on a baking sheet (oil the sheet to prevent the squash from sticking) and put it in the oven. Our ovens (here in Argentina) don’t have temperature settings, just on/off, so I’m afraid I can’t tell you what temp it cooks at. I bake it until it is soft and then slice it open, remove the seeds and scoop out the baked flesh of the squash. It makes a great accompaniment to a meat dish, on its own and drizzled with olive oil or nutritional yeast.
Hey Darya! I received an immersion blender as a gift last year and was excited about it because I planned to make soups, etc… except the pots I have at home aren’t meant to be used with metal and I don’t want to scratch them. Any suggestions?