Settle into fall with this velvety butternut squash soup — and its crunchy topping

The Abridged version:

• Recipe developer Zoe B. Soderstrom created this butternut squash soup after visiting a Roseville farmers market.
• Keep the seeds from your Halloween pumpkin to make candied curried pepitas, which can be sprinkled atop the soup.
• For a sweeter, more concentrated flavor, try swapping in honeynut squash for butternut.

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This is Cooking In Season, a biweekly series from local recipe developer Zoe B. Soderstrom using seasonal produce available at Sacramento-area farmers markets. 

In culinary school, one of my favorite units (unexpectedly so!) was puréed soups. There’s something so satisfying about sweating aromatics, adding your choice of vegetable, cooking until fork-tender, then blending until velvety smooth. The combination of herbs, spices and other flavorings is endless — but sometimes keeping things simple is what makes the end product so great. And when you’re using seasonal vegetables, it’s even better.

I initially went to the Roseville Fountains Farmers’ Market intending to make a puréed soup with honeynut squash — the creamy, sweet cultivar bred as a cross between butternut and buttercup squash. However, Newcastle farm The Natural Trading Co. drew me in with its butternut squash’s classic appeal. It’s familiar and comforting, and its nutty-sweet flavor seems to be just about everywhere right now (macaroni and cheese, risotto, etc.).

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH CANDIED CURRIED PEPITAS

Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Nothing signals colder days ahead quite like a warm bowl of soup. This one, in particular, tastes like a bowl of autumn — creamy, sweet butternut squash blended with tart Honeycrisp apples and topped with spiced pumpkin seeds (i.e., pepitas). For a sweeter, more concentrated flavor, try swapping in honeynut squash for butternut; just be sure to match the weight.

Ingredients

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Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 large carrot, thinly sliced

1 (2 ½-lb) butternut squash, peeled, trimmed, seeded and diced into 1” pieces

1 small Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored and diced into 1” pieces

¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

2 ¼ cups vegetable or chicken stock, plus more as needed

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Candied Curried Pepitas

Cooking spray

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 egg white

1 cup pepitas

Flaky salt, to taste

Instructions

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Prepare the Soup

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add shallot and carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is soft and translucent, around 3 minutes.
2. Add the butternut squash, apple and salt. Cook, while stirring, until the squash and apple are fully coated in oil. Stir in the stock and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook until the vegetables are tender and break apart easily, around 40 minutes. While the soup cooks, prepare the candied curried pepitas.

Prepare the Candied Curried Pepitas

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, curry powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir well, ensuring no clumps of sugar remain.
3. Stir in the egg white, mixing until a paste forms, then add the pepitas. Mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Spread the pepitas onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle over a couple of pinches of flaky salt, then bake until set and golden brown, about 11-12 minutes.
5. Allow the pepitas to cool completely before breaking into bite-sized pieces.

Finish the Soup

1. Transfer the soup to a blender. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar and heavy cream. Blend until smooth and creamy. Return the soup to the saucepan and mix in additional stock, if needed.
2. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with a few clumps of candied curried pepitas.

Zoe B. Soderstrom is the writer and recipe developer behind Cooking In Season, a biweekly column featuring recipes made from the Sacramento region’s seasonal produce. She runs the popular Substack page Restaurant Dropout and previously worked in Bay Area restaurants after graduating from culinary school.