1 butternut squash  •  10 tomatoes, various sizes  •  1 sweet onion
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled  •  extra virgin oil olive  •  4 C chicken stock
1/2 C half and half  •  1/3-1/2 C pure maple syrup  •  1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp nutmeg  •  1/4 tsp thyme  •  1/8 tsp sage  •  1 T salt
1/2 tsp pepper  •  2-3 T fresh parsley, chopped
sour cream or creme fraiche, 1 dollop per serving
honey roasted almonds to top

I hope your not sick of fall foods yet, I will still be blogging about them until Thanksgiving! I personally cannot get enough of the hearty and fragrant harvest foods. This week I picked a ton of ripe tomatoes from the garden and thought “what can I do with these that doesn’t involve making another Italian or Mexican dish?” Just then I looked on my counter and a large butternut squash was staring at me. Ah yes, a roasted butternut squash soup with tomato, that should work!  Similar my Acorn Squash Bisque, this recipe also has a sweet undertone of maple and a creamy finish. The use of these thanksgiving herbs heighten the flavors of the squash and tomato making every spoonful of this soup a fall delight. Hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Prep: On a lined baking sheet place whole tomatoes, prepared butternut squash (cut in half and seeded), sliced onion and whole garlic cloves peeled. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, sage and nutmeg. Place in preheated oven and allow to roast for 35-45 minutes or until squash is tender. Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to boil right as you take the roasted vegetables out of the oven. Once roasted peel tomatoes and cut tops off, set five aside (dice those five and set aside) and place the other five in the boiling stock. Scoop out squash from skin and place in stock along with the roasted onion and garlic. Allow roasted vegetables to simmer on a medium heat for about 20 minutes to combine flavors. Using a food processor, blend roasted vegetables and stock together until smooth then place back on a low heat and continue to simmer. Add in pure maple syrup, half and half and more chicken stock to thin soup as necessary. Add in the five diced tomatoes that you set aside and the chopped parsley. Serve hot with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream and finish with a crunchy honey roasted almond topping, I bought a bag of these honey roasted almonds at Trader Joe’s.

Serves 6-8

notes: If you don’t live by a Trader Joe’s you can always make your own honey roasted almonds, or you can top with any other candied nut, pumpkin seed or homemade crouton.

… Happy Tuesday!