You Make Me Wanna Soup

We Tarts love a good soup and this one from Cristina's Restaurant in Sun Valley makes us wanna sang with some Salt-N-Pepa...

Hey yeah I wanna soup baby...

Soup soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop

Here I go here I go here I go again

Girls what's my weakness? (Soup!)

Butternut Squash Soup with Pears, Apples & Leeks

adapted from Cristina's Cookbook

(printable recipe)

serves 5

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup sliced leeks

1 cubed apple (save core for stock)

1 cubed pear (save core for stock)

1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage (reserve stalks for stock)

1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme (reserve stalks for stock)

1/8 cup of marsala wine

6 cups pear stock (recipe below)

3 cups roasted butternut squash (recipe below)

sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat olive oil and butter. Add leeks, apples and pears. Sauté over medium heat until leeks are translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in sage and thyme, cook 2 more minutes. Add wine, simmer for a few minutes, then add stock and squash. Simmer for an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. (We used a good amount of salt as it needed it.) If you prefer a thicker soup cook 20 more minutes.

We puréed our soup and garnished it with pears sautéed in vegan butter and sage. The end result was delicious!

Roasted Butternut Squash

2 medium size butternut squash

1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 Tbsp fresh sage

1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic

sea salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450˚

Cut squash in half lengthwise, seed, and place on baking sheet, skin side down. Sprinkle with all ingredients and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 1 1/2 hrs or until soft. Cool, then scoop out squash from skin.

Apple-Pear Stock

1 gallon water

1 apple core

1 pear core

2 small leeks, green part only

2 celery stalks

2 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs each of thyme and sage

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp maple syrup

*The recipe called for 1/2 tsp celery seed, but we opted out and added a tsp of sea salt.

In a stockpot, bring ingredients to a rolling boil, then simmer for 30 min. Strain and reserve stock.

Oh, you make me wanna soup

Hey yeah, I wanna soup, baby