This butternut squash soup is incredibly easy to make. Once the veggies are chopped (which may be prepped in advance), and then roasted, they are blended with broth and olive oil to create a sweet and savory blended soup. Easy peasy!
Place the vegetables and fruit (cubed squash, sliced leeks, sliced bell pepper, garlic cloves, and sliced pear) on a large high-rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, and gently toss to combine. Sprinkle the veggies with the salt and pepper.
Roast the vegetables, uncovered, until tender--about 40 minutes. Around the 25 minute mark, I recommend checking on the veggies, and stirring them if the leeks (or another veggie) appear to be browning quickly.
Once the veggies are roasted, place them in a Dutch oven (or soup pot), along with the chicken broth and thyme. Heat the broth and veggies, over medium-high heat, until the broth begins to simmer. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it's smooth. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the olive oil, and blend until the soup is creamy. Taste the soup and add more salt, if needed, to taste. I personally add 1/2 teaspoon of additional salt at this point--this will vary depending on the saltiness of your broth.
Serve the soup warm with grilled cheese, warm bread, or parmesan crisps (a great topping for the soup). I also like to top the soup with a few bacon crumbles.
Notes
Ingredient Notes The veggies may all be prepped (sliced and cubed) in advance, except the pear. I recommend keeping the cubed and sliced veggies in the fridge up to 2-3 days before roasting.Leeks are usually very dirty, so I recommend soaking them, after they're sliced, in a bowl of water. After a few minutes of soaking, drain the water and rinse the leeks with fresh water.I've been using Bartlett Pears to make this soup, but I think any pear variety will work well.I've left the olive oil amount, for roasting, up to you. I recommend using 2 tablespoons of olive oil at first, and then if the veggies need more oil, adding an additional 1 tablespoon before roasting.Vegetable broth may be subbed for the chicken broth.The flavor of the soup just gets better with age, in my opinion, so this is an ideal meal to prep on the weekend and enjoy throughout the week for lunch, or freezer for later.