Harvest Cream Soup

It's Thursday! The recipe for this week comes from the Quick Vegetarian Main Dishes cookbook by the Pampered Chef (imagine that?). You can get it here. I can go ahead and tell you, they certainly do mean quick, as least as far has the hands-on part goes.


Ingredients: 
1 lb butternut squash
2 leeks (white and light green portions only)
1 lb baby carrots (or about 3 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
salt and coarsely ground black pepper (optional)
2 cans (14.5oz each) vegetable broth (or about 4 cups), divided
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
1 1-in piece unpeeled fresh gingerroot
reduced-fat sour cream (optional)


Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut squash into 1-in pieces. Cut leeks in half lengthwise (wash AFTER this step - it allows you to get a lot more of the grit and sand out), then into 2-in pieces. Combine squash, leeks, carrots, oil and garlic in a large mixing bowl; toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper, if desired.


2. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a large bar pan. Bake 40 - 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and deep golden brown. Remove pan from oven to a cooling rack.


3. Combine half of the vegetables with half of the broth in blender container. Cover; blend until smooth. Pour vegetable puree into a 4qt Casserole dish (or really, just a large pot on the stove). Repeat with remaining vegetable mixture and broth. Add evaporated milk to Casserole (or pot); mix well. Cook over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.


4. Grate gingerroot using a microplane grater. Gather gingerroot in palm of hand and squeeze over a prep bowl to yield 2 tsp; discard flesh. Stir juice into soup just before serving. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls, swirl in sour cream, if desired.


Okay, now PICTURES! :) 

I love the color of Butternut Squash. So gorgeous!

Since I wasn't sure what the initial weight was, I
just chopped until I hit one pound.
It wound up being about half the squash.

Leeks! Definitely wash them AFTER cutting them
in half lengthwise like this. You can see all the
layers that grit can hide in.

Ready for the baking. Vegetables never looked so pretty.

Pureeing in the blender took no time whatsoever. It does
resemble baby food...just a little. But still delicious.

Final product!

Tricks of the Trade:

• Surprisingly tasty. Scott had a hard time getting over how it looked, so if you have kids (or a picky husband), it might be a little difficult getting them to eat this. I recommend serving it with a huge piece of bread (and maybe a side of MEAT, even though this is vegetarian.)
• Make sure you roast the vegetables long enough. Cutting short the roasting time means you'll have a grainy soup.
• Be sure to season it to taste AFTER you have reached the final step. It's difficult to measure how much salt and pepper you'll need until once it's all mixed together. And broth always adds salt.
• Will definitely serve a crowd. Recipe says 6 servings. If you have brave eaters, this definitely is an easy "fake-gourmet" dish.
• I apparently cannot "swirl in sour cream". So good luck with that. And send me pictures when you're able to make these lovely designs in the top of the soup.

See the swirl?!

I hope you enjoy this sneaky and tasty way to get your vegetables in! And as always, let me know how yours turns out!  :)