Roasted Parsnip & Butternut Squash Soup
Vegan • Gluten-Free • Sugar-Free
This winter has been pretty brutal when it comes to weather. We’ve received snow in large dumps completely shutting down streets and causing you to have to cancel plans. Hibernation mode ON! But the cold!?! Oh, the cold… If you’re in the North-East areas of Canada and the United States then I don’t need to tell YOU. But for the others, let me tell you there have been days where Montreal has been colder than the North Pole. Now that’s saying something.
So while I had originally planned on giving you guys a DIY hummus recipe today, I thought you might appreciate soup a little more. You’re welcome!
As far as soups come this one is pretty easy and doesn’t require a whole lot of stuff. The veggies are roasted in the oven prior to being transferred to a blender with some vegetable stock. So while the veggies are roasting, you can be cuddled up under blankets, catching up on Netflix. What are you watching? Personally I’m in catch up mode…
This soup is incredibly warming and satisfying. Loaded with sweet vegetables and a touch of spice from the hot paprika. The paprika isn’t hot enough to make the soup spicy, but adds just enough heat to give it a BBQ like flavor thanks to the sweetness of the vegetables. Think BBQ chips… And while on the subject of the sweet vegetables, adding more to your diet is a great way to wean yourself off of sweets and reduce those sweet cravings. So if one of your resolutions was to cut back on sugar or sweets, recipes like this one are great to have in your tool belt. While most butternut squash soup recipes call for apples, I really like the flavor of pear in this one. It complements the boldness of parsnips and has a very distinct sweetness that I can still detect once the soup in blended.
So put on a pot of soup, grab a blankie and let’s hibernate!
- ½ large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 pound parsnips, scrubbed and trimmed
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 bartlett pears, cored and quartered
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or melted coconut oil
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2-4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peel and clean a large butternut squash. Cube half into 1-inch chunks, reserving the other half for another use *see notes. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Scrub the parsnips with a vegetable brush under warm water to remove any residual dirt and trim the ends. Chop into 1-inch chunks and add to the bowl with the squash.
- Core and quarter two bartlett pears, no need to peel, and add to the bowl. Toss is 6 whole garlic cloves.
- Drizzle with olive oil and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
- Arrange on the prepared baking sheet and roast until fragrant and lightly caramelized. About 45 minutes. Pierce the cubes of squash with a fork or knife to ensure they are cooked through.
- Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender along with the vegetable stock and puree until smooth. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. ** see notes.
- Transfer the puree to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the water, one cup at a time until the desired thickness is reached.
- Stir in the hot paprika and season to taste with salt and pepper.
**out of convenience you could transfer everything to a large soup pot and use an immersion blender, but I like how smooth and velvety this gets in the blender.
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