Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is seriously amazing, healthy, so easy, and I could not. Stop. Eating it.

I've gotten completely obsessed with roasting vegetables this fall. It all started with this fantastic roasted carrot soup by Jamie Deen. I threw the carrots in the oven after dinner, never set a timer, starting watching TV, and forgot all about them. By the time they came out they were much darker than I had intended... And sooo deliciously caramelized and good!

I followed that with a roasted butternut squash soup using the same method... Season, bake, and forget. And then I was doing it with everything. Cauliflower and potato. Ever tried roasted spaghetti squash??

I told my mom I'd cook up another butternut squash for turkey day, thinking I could either make a roasted veggie dip out of the puréed squash or just make a pot of soup depending on the number of RSVPs. This one makes a seriously silky soup, and with the added onion, garlic and yummy delicious caramelized bits, it's good straight out of the fridge on a spoon.

Ingredients:
The biggest butternut squash you can find
One sweet yellow onion
One head of garlic

To prepare:
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and strings with a spoon.
Quarter and peel the onion. Cut off the top of the head of garlic.

To cook:
Place the squash cut side up on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Cover with salt and pepper.
Drizzle oil over onion quarters and season with salt and pepper. Cover the top of the head of garlic with olive oil, making sure it reaches all of the cloves, and wrap in a small piece of foil.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees. Check the onions for doneness after 20 minutes or so. Bake the squash for 45 minutes or up to an hour. It's done when the skin is easily pierced with a small knife.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, scrape the flesh from the squash with a spoon. The sides may easily peel away.
Squeeze the garlic cloves from the head. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a food processor and blend in batches until smooth.
Taste test: so far you have pretty much made really, really delicious baby food. If you like it, by all means spread it on a cracker and start now (or if you are making Roasted Butternut Squash Puree, go here).

To make the soup, transfer puree to a large pot and add 4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (depending on the size of your squash and the desired consistency). Bring to a boil and simmer until ready to serve.
Garnish with garlic bread, fresh basil, scallions, a dollop of Greek yogurt, season with curry powder... this is a great base recipe you can do almost anything with.

Enjoy!