Vegetarian Recipe: Winter Squash & Apple Soup

Every week on the Good Food Blog we celebrate Meatless Monday by sharing a vegetarian recipe from our archives.

Apple season is upon us. Good Food host, Evan Kleiman, first shared this recipe for Winter Squash & Apple Soup on September 22, 2007.

Winter Squash & Apple Soup

Use any winter squash variety for this soup except spaghetti squash. Think Butternut, Tahitian, Moroccan, Kabocha etc. The same is true for apples. Choose your favorite. Delicious just as it is, you can change its ‘personality’ by adding ginger and cilantro or curry powder, or leeks instead of onions. If you’re making a holiday dish, add a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (mild flavor) or butter

2 onions, peeled and diced

2 ½ lbs winter squash peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

½ lb apples, peeled, seeded and cored

Chicken or vegetable broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

Crème fraiche, yogurt or sour cream for garnish

Cook onion in the oil or butter (or a combination of both) until it softens and starts to collapse on itself. Add the squash and apples. Pour enough water, chicken or veggie broth to cover one-third of the pan’s contents. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover the pot and bring it to a simmer.

Keep the pot covered until the mixture begins to soften, stirring occasionally. Once the fruit begins to soften, it will have given up some of its water. Add liquid, if needed. Once everything is soft, mash the mixture with a potato masher or a sturdy whisk. (You can also put the fruit through the coarse disk of a food mill. For a more elegant texture, puree the ingredients in a blender or food processor.) If the mixture is very thick, add enough additional liquid to bring it to the desired texture. Adjust the seasoning. Garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche, yogurt or sour cream.