Meat Free Monday: Baked Winter Squash Soup

Just call me the soup Nazi (Seinfeld) but I am sharing yet another soup recipe for Meat Free Monday! 

 For those of you who haven’t read my bio, I am a 2 year breast cancer survivor.  I went through my chemo treatments in the middle of winter and was ALWAYS cold because of my lack of hair.  Friends brought us wonderful dinners while I was going through treatments, and I am forever grateful to them for it.  This soup was one of the dinners that was delivered one cold winter day.  It warmed my heart to know I had friends who cared so much, but the soup also warmed ME physically! 

Although my kids aren’t big on creamy soups, my 7-year old is starting to broaden his food horizons and thinks this soup is “yummy”.  My 3-year old?  Well, he is a different story!  And as I’ve mentioned before, the hubby likes soup, and thinks this one is good, but I must serve it with some bread and salad or he won’t be satisfied!   But what the perfect season for Baked Winter Squash Soup….it just makes me think of autum colors, smells and time spent with the family. 

 The original recipe makes enough for us to freeze half for a quick meal at a later date (I LOVE that!).  And as a side note, the original recipe calls for chicken stock, but I have substituted vegetable stock to make it truly meat free.

Baked Winter Squash Soup 

click here for printable version

1 very large baking pan (you can buy a very large aluminum disposable one)

2 acorn squash (about 2 lbs. each)

2 butternut squash (about 2 lbs. each)

1 stick butter

8 tsp. dark brown sugar

3 carrots – peeled and halved

1 large onion – thinly sliced

10 cups vegetable stock (original recipe calls for chicken stock)

Salt and Cumin to taste

1. Preheat over to 350.

2. Cut squash lengthwise and take out seeds.

3. Put squash halves, skin side down and put 1 T butter and 1 tsp. brown sugar in each half.

4. Arrange onion slices and carrots around the squash halves.

5. Pour a can of vegetable or chicken stock around the squash, cover the entire pan tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours.

6. Scoop the squash pulp out of the skins and place in a soup pot – add the carrots, onions, and liquid from the roasting pan.

7. Add the remaining 8 cups of chicken broth – stir well and bring to a boil – reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

8. Puree the soup and return it to the pot – add seasonings.