Basil & Roses

Thanksgiving — my favorite holiday — is around the corner and I can’t wait to start preparing warming fall flavors to celebrate with friends and family.

I’ve been cooking a thanksgiving meal for my people for 15 years, and it brings me much joy every time. I wrote about the joy and thrill of this holiday here . I look forward to building on that and creating new memories each year. Whether cooking for 25 people or 5 people, I’m simply thankful for the privilege to indulge.

My favorite way to begin the holiday meal is with this decadent and relatively healthy butternut squash soup. The key to the depth of flavor is roasting the vegetables. I often serve this as an appetizer while the mains roast and sizzle away and everyone is gathered in the kitchen enjoying wine, light appetizers, and each other’s company.

In Farsi, butternut squash is called lazy pumpkin (kadoo tanbal), which is hilarious. Butter-nut is the perfect name for this tender, sweet and nutty gourd. I simply roast the squash along with red bell peppers, onion and garlic in the oven, then blend everything together with a bit of broth and a touch of cream for a luscious end result. You can skip the cream for a dairy-free option. I serve it with toasty bread and a garnish of thyme. It’s delicious and warming – A foreshadowing to the rest of an amazing meal to come.

Ingredients:
2-3 medium butternut squash, sliced in half and seeds removed
3 medium white onions, quartered
2 red bell peppers, cut in half and seeds removed
4-6 cloves garlic (adjust to taste)
1/2 cup olive oil, add more if needed
3-4 cups vegetable stock or water, as needed
1 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh lemon juice to taste
1/4 cup cream (optional)
4-6 spring of Thyme for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment pape
2. Slice squash in half, remove seeds, leaving skin on- it will be easier to remove once roasted.
3. Place squash, skin side down along with onions, bell peppers, and garlic on two baking sheets. Generously coat the vegetables with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until squash is golden brown.
5. Roughly half way through, remove the garlic from the oven to avoid burning.
6. Let the vegetables cool, then use a spoon to remove flesh of the squash from its skin.
7. Working in batches, place roasted vegetables and stock in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Note- Be careful not to fill the blender to the top with hot vegetables as it will erupt. Leave roughly ¼ of the blender empty.
8. Continue blending in batches, adding all the purred portions to a large pot. Then adjust the thickness of the soup by adding more stock or water until you get the desired consistency. Alternatively you can use an immersion blender in a pot.
9. Add enough liquid to thin out the soup to your desired consistency.
10. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed, and a squeeze of lemon for balance, if desired.
11. If using, add the cream to the pot and stir until fully incorporated into the soup.

The soup will be naturally creamy at this point — the cream adds yet another level of indulgence and more luxurious, velvety texture to the mix

Serve with homemade crostini:
Cut sourdough or baguette of choice into  ½ inch thick slices. Drizzle bread with olive oil and season lightly with salt, pepper and dried oregano. Toast in the oven at 325 for 10 -15 minutes, or until golden brown.