A creamy, comforting soup with sweet and spicy fall flavors, and a savory Italian twist. Simple and delicious, this recipe will leave you feeling cozy and satisfied.
Autumn. Isn’t it funny that just a little dip in the temperature can make us so ready for the warm hug of a sweater? The toasty glow of a fire? A warming bite of hearty soup?
When I think of fall, I think of squash. But the thing about starchy squash is you have to get it just right to keep it out of the “meh” zone. I don’t know if it’s just my palate, but sometimes when I eat fall/winter squash or even sweet potatoes, after a few bites I feel inundated and have to stop. I think it’s partly a dull sweetness and partly a heavy, homogenous texture.
Not the case here! Filled with fall flavors, this soup is hearty and filling—but it’s also balanced.
The squash, pancetta (Italian bacon), sage, red pepper, and maple syrup all work together to achieve balance, but this recipe also has a secret star: browned butter. There isn’t much, but I swear it makes all the difference in the world.
Pancetta plays a stand-out role too. Not only does it give the soup a nice ribbon of soft umami flavor, it also provides pops of flavor and texture throughout. The tiny pieces of uncured bacon burst between your teeth, sending extra reserves of savory goodness into the mix.
One of my favorite things about this particular soup is that it’s an excuse to use one of my favorite kitchen tools—my immersion blender. There’s something so satisfying about putting the stick into the soup and pulverizing everything. It reminds me of when I worked at Dairy Queen as a college freshman. Making that swirl on the top of the cone was an art, but sliding the blizzard cup over the blending stick and managing to mix the toppings into the delicate ice cream evenly was a show of power.
Like, a nice, sweet show of power. For good and ice cream. Now I want a pumpkin blizzard.
I personally use the Cuisinart CSB-79 Smart Stick 2 Speed Hand Blender. I’ve had it since 2014, and it is perfect for making sauces, soups, smoothies—I’ve even used it to mix honey into natural peanut butter, which is no easy feat with out power tools. It’s super easy to use and super easy to clean. The only slight, slight issue I’ve had with it is that the measuring cup it came with cracked from over-use (I used to use it almost every morning to blend greens finely for smoothies), but we were able to get a new one really easily.
Back to the soup. I hope you try it out, and if you do, please let me know how it goes! I love to hear from you on social media and in the comments. I you want to hear from me more often, make sure you sign up for my email list (in the sidebar). You’ll get a sweet treat for doing so. Not a pumpkin blizzard, but it’s pretty good.
All right, so let’s review. If you’ve created this recipe, you now know how to:
- Roast squash
- Brown butter
- Toast pepitas
And it was pretty simple, right?
Listen, the number of recipes you can make with if you can do that is astounding. This is cause for celebration! Be proud of yourself, because you can cook.
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So what’s your favorite autumn soup? Let me know in the comments!
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