Butternut Squash and Grannysmith Apple Soup
This sweet rich winter soup is naturally creamy and easy to make. It always impresses friends. I made it for clients the other night, and they were glad I made extra for them to enjoy the next days! It’s naturally creamy, so you can leave out the added cream if you like, but a small swirl is a nice garnish, and adds color contrast to the finished soup.
6 servings
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups yellow onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon white pepper
2 medium butternut squash, about 3 pounds
2 grannysmith apples, peeled cored and chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup apple juice
salt and pepper, to taste
cream, if desired, to finish
1 grannysmith apple, unpeeled, for garnish
Melt the butter over medium heat in a soup pot or dutch oven. Add the onions, turmeric and white pepper and cook over low heat until the onions are translucent. While the onions cook, peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and chop the flesh. When onions are tender, add the chicken stock, the squash and apples, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, until squash and apples are very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain about 1/2 the cooking liquid, reserving. Using a hand held blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add the apple juice and stir until the soup is the consistency you like. If necessary, add some more of the reserved cooking liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper, heating through on low heat. Add a small drizzle of cream, if desired, and drag a skewer through it to form a design. For garnish, cut a thin disc off the apple, then slice as thinly as possible into half moon shapes. Spread out 3 slices to form a fan and place in center of each bowl just before service.
Mark C. Tafoya is a personal chef in New York City. He is also a world traveler and self-taught gourmand. He is a graduate of Yale University, worked as an actor for 10 years, both On and Off Broadway, and in independent films. His love of travel and food has taken him around the world. He hopes to share his love of world cuisine with you!
What a beautiful picture of the soup. The garnish is lovely! I love apples and I am crazy about butternut squash ever since my friend Audrey introduced it to me years and years ago.
Thanks! I usually do the garnisha little differently than pictured, but I didn’t have a photo of it. As I described in the recipe, if you thinly slice the apple, you can just fan out 3 or 4 slices into a gorgeous fan shape, and then GENTLY drop it on the top of the soup, so the whole thing floats.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe … and the photo of the soup is beautiful!
Thanks, Ivonne, it’s my pleasure!
Some whipped goat cheese as a garnish would be good with this.
YUM! Try it and let me know how that tastes. I’m sure that the tanginess of the Goat cheese would be really good with this.
That looks almost too pretty to eat!
nah, go ahead and slurp it up!