Blender Acorn Squash Soup with Apples and Leeks

Blender Acorn Squash Soup with Apple and Leeks. This soup starts in the oven then finishes in a blender. If you don't have a blender, stovetop cooking method is mentioned in recipe notes. 

This acorn squash soup starts with the squash roasting with garlic. Leeks, apple and shallot get sautéed on the stovetop then everything is added to  the blender to cook until finished. 

When I was a bartender back in the day I always loved the commercial blenders we had to make frozen margaritas, daiquiris etc., but never in a million years would I think they would cook soup because boy do they make a perfectly blended margarita.

And they make perfectly blended soup.

I get pretty spoiled in the kitchen appliance department, my mom likes to give them to me as birthday and Christmas gifts. One would think small kitchen appliances aren't a typical yay get excited for gift, but when one spends as much time in the kitchen as I do, appliances are awesome. Especially ones that make life so much easier.

My mom gave me a Vitamix blender a few years ago and she was always amazed at its claim that it made soup and she has asked me on numerous occasions if I had made soup in it yet.  I have used it in soup making many times, usually just to puree the soups before returning them to a giant pot on my stove. But never I had never fully cooked soup in it. Until I made this acorn squash soup.

I LOVE winter squashes of all varieties. Butternut, Acorn, Delicata, Spaghetti, Kabocha,  you name it I love it. Each have their own distinct taste and color. I adore them roasted, made into fries, as a substitute for noodles and in soups.

Squash soups are so easy to make, and the flavor combinations are endless. Like my Creamy Roasted Squash and Root Veggie Soup, or the amazing Butternut Squash Soup I had at the Ritz Carlton, Dana Point earlier this year.

I have a few " soup secrets" I will share with you today. One is roasted garlic. I love roasting a whole bulb of garlic drizzled with a little bit of olive oil and using the carmelized cloves in soups. I also love using leeks and shallots.

Most soups call for onions but I am a fan of the milder flavor that leeks and shallots offer, plus I hate cutting onions. They always make me cry. Once I wore my snowboarding goggles while chopping onions to make my husband French onion soup. Which that would have worked if I had my clear lenses, but I had my mirrored ones meant for super sunny days so it was a little dark and hard to see and I didn't want to chop a finger off.

So back to crying I went. All because I was trying to impress him with one of his favorite soups. I have yet to make it again. Maybe I should look for my clear goggle lenses.

Another one of my soup secrets is using coconut milk. I love the creaminess it lends to the soup without the super heavy taste of cream. It isn't overwhelmingly coconut flavored, but it definitely enhances the flavor. I always use organic canned coconut milk, not the boxed beverage which has additives I can't pronounce.

Blender Acorn Squash Soup

Shanna

A creamy acorn squash soup cooked in a blender ( alternate method of cooking is mentioned in recipe notes if you don't have a high powered blender).

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 8 bowls of soup

Ingredients

  

• 1 acorn squash about 2 pounds
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 4 tablesspoons coconut oil divided
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon divided
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg divided
• 3 small leeks white and light green only, rinsed well and sliced ( about ¾ cup)
• 3 tablespoon shallot diced ( about 2 shallots)
• 1 medium apple cored and diced (about ⅔ cup)
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 3 cups chicken stock Or Veggie stock to make it vegetarian
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk Use can coconut milk, do not use boxed
• 1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• Garnish:
• Coconut milk 1 teaspoon or so per bowl
• Toasted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 Deg. F. Drizzle 2 tablespoon of coconut oil on a large baking sheet
• Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice in half or quarters and place on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle the squash with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Take off the outer layer of peel on the garlic and cut off the top ¼ inch. Place the garlic bulb on a large square of foil and drizzle the exposed garlic cloves with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic. Place the pan of squash and garlic bulb in the preheated oven and roast for 30-45 minutes, flipping the squash slices once. Once thee squash is very tender remove from the oven and check the garlic. If the garlic isn’t super soft yet, roast another 10 minutes. Let everything cool enough to handle
• In a sauté pan add the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil and add the leeks, shallot and diced apple. Sauté until the leeks and shallots are starting to caramelize and the apples are soft.
• Remove the peel from the roasted squash and place in the blender. Add in the remaining ingredients. Turn blender on and slowly raise the speed to 10 and then high. Blend for 5 minutes checking for steam by removing the vent cap on the lid. Stop the blender and taste and season with more spices if desired. Blend a few more minutes on high if needed for soup to be hotter. Serve and garnish with a drizzle of coconut milk and toasted pumpkin seeds

Notes

If you don't have a blender that is capable of cooking the soup, saute the shallots, apple and leeks in a stockpot and add the rest of the ingredients per the original recipe and bring to a simmer. Blend in batches or use an immersion blender to puree smooth.

Allllll gone

Lick the bowl clean soup. Its just that good.