Top | Marisa McClellan

Roasted Acorn Squash and White Sweet Potato Soup

(recipe, Marisa McClellan)


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Ingredients

  1. 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  2. 1 acorn squash (1 to 1½ pounds)
  3. 2 medium-sized white sweet potatoes (see Note)
  4. 1 small yellow onion
  5. 1 qt. chicken stock
  6. 2 tsp. sea salt (start with just 1 teaspoon if using regular table salt)
  7. ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  8. 4 to 5 turns of a pepper grinder
  9. ½ cup light cream
  10. ¼ cup toasted pumpkin or acorn-squash seeds (optional)

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a large, rimmed sheet pan with the olive oil. Set aside.
  2. Cut the acorn squash in half so that you have two pieces that mirror one another. Scrape out the seeds and stringy bits, saving the seeds for toasting. Place the squash cut-side down on the sheet pan, rubbing them around a bit so the sides in contact with the pan get nicely oiled.
  3. Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Cut them in half lengthwise and place on the sheet pan, making sure that they are sufficiently oiled so that they won’t stick.
  4. Trim and peel the onion and slice it into quarters. Place those on the sheet pan as well.
  5. Put the pan in the oven and roast the vegetables for 30 to 35 minutes, until everything is fork-tender and there are some caramelized bits on the onions.
  6. When the roasted vegetables are cool enough to handle, scrape the squash and sweet-potato flesh out into a soup pot (a capacity of 4 to 5 quarts is the right size for this job). Chop the onion a bit and add it to the pot. Pour the chicken stock over the veg and stir to break up the pieces.
  7. Bring the soup to a simmer. Add salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Using an immersion blender, purée the soup right in the pan (if you don’t have one, a blender, food processor, or food mill will also do the job), taking extra care that the pieces of onion are broken down. Add the cream and taste. Adjust the spices if necessary.
  8. Serve garnished with toasted seeds or with a slice of whole-grain bread.

Note

White sweet potatoes let the color of the squash predominate, but you can certainly use any sweet potatoes you have on hand.