Butternut Squash Soup with Sage & Pimento

Creamy, comforting, and cozy - a delicious bowl of fall flavours.

We’re big fans of soup season around here. Not only is soup a great way to use up extra produce in your fridge, it’s also comforting and packed with good-for-you ingredients. Each spoon is full of flavour and topped with crunchy croutons makes for a well rounded meal.

This recipe is inspired by our Creamy Cabbage Soup taking some familiar Portuguese flavours for a fun twist on a classic squash soup. We like to serve our soup with some homemade croutons and a drizzle of non-dairy yogurt to really round out the meal.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Quick and easy weeknight meal!

• Perfect for meal prep.

• Creamy and comforting.

• The perfect balance of sweet and spice.

Top tips for making a squash soup:

• Squash size matters. This recipe makes enough for 2-3 servings depending on whose eating, but only because we make this recipe with a small butternut squash. If you are making this soup with a larger squash you will have to adjust the liquid ingredients to ensure you get the right creamy consistency. You’re looking for something around 1-1.5 pounds.

• Prep your ingredients ahead of time. Soup can move fairly quickly and requires accurate timing. We like to ensure that all of our ingredients are prepped before we start any cooking.

• Use a heavy-bottomed pot. We like making soups with our cast iron Dutch oven because its heavy bottom absorbs and distributes heat more evenly so you get more evenly cooked soup.

• Taste as you cook. The key to any delicious recipe is to taste while you cook and season at every stage. Doing this will develop flavours at every level so each spoonful is a full-bodied experience with depth of flavour.

How to make butternut squash soup with sage and pimento:

Prep Time: 10 Min | Cook Time: 25 Min | Total Time: 35 Min

Makes: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 small carrot, diced

• 2 small stalks celery, diced

• ½ white onion, diced

• ¼ cup fresh sage, roughly chopped

• salt, to taste

• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced

• 4 cups vegetable broth

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp hot chili powder

• 1 tsp sage

• ½ tsp cloves

• 3 tbsp hot pimento paste

• 1 tsp liquid smoke

Instructions

1. Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

2. Once the olive oil is warm add white onion, celery, carrot, fresh sage, and salt. Stir and sautee for 5 minutes.

3. Add butternut squash and season with salt. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.

4. Pour in broth and season with paprika, hot chili powder, sage, cloves, hot pimento paste, and liquid smoke. Stir and cook until the squash is fork tender.

5. Puree with a hand blender until creamy and smooth. Depending on the size of the squash you may need to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe to get your desired consistency.

6. Cook an additional 5 minutes and serve with croutons for some crunch and optionally a drizzle of non-dairy yogurt.

---

Ingredient Notes

• Butternut Squash – This is the main component of this soup. It’s what gives it its fall flavour and creamy texture. This recipe is small, so you’ll want a small butternut squash for it – look for a squash around 1-1.5 pounds. If you use a larger squash you will need to adjust the liquid measurements in this recipe to create the right consistency.

• Vegetable Broth – Most of the flavour will come from this broth so pick something that is full of flavour and compliments your other ingredients. A vegan chicken broth would be great in this recipe!

• Liquid Smoke – To get that perfectly smoky flavour that you would get from a Portuguese sausage we use liquid smoke.

• Seasonings – We use a combination of hot chili powder, paprika, sage, and cloves.

• Hot Pimento Paste – A prominent flavour from Kat’s childhood; hot pimento paste adds a rich and full flavour to this soup. You can find this a most Portuguese markets, delis, and grocery stores.