Happy Birthday Stefan!

Sunday was Stefan's birthday and to celebrate, he made a last minute decision the week before... he made an appointment for oral surgery and had 2 wisdom teeth removed on Thursday.  YAY!  Immediately, my selfish reaction was "Great, there goes his birthday weekend and my plans to go out for a nice dinner on Sunday!"  Once I stopped thinking about how this would inconvenience me, I realized that I needed to go out and stock the house with soft foods.  I filled the fridge with yogurt and pudding and jell-o and those great Bolthouse Farms smoothie drinks.  Good stuff - I redeemed myself!  But I was still faced with the dilemma of how to deal with the birthday dinner.  It was clear that it would make more sense to cook something at home, but what do you cook for someone who can't eat anything that exceeds the consistency of baby food?  Pureeing a dinner is only really a good option when it is appropriate to do so.  I was inspired by the autumn weather and decided to try to make my own take on butternut squash soup.  And I have to say, I hit this one out of the park....

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (Gluten Free & Dairy Free)
1 whole butternut squash
1 vidalia onion, diced into large pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 fennel bulb, halved, cored and thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or just smashed
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp garam masala (indian spice blend of coriander, cumin, cardamom and cinnamon)
kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
canola oil (a total of about 4 T or so)

Preheat your oven to 425°.  Cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise and place on a baking sheet with the flesh side facing up.  Season lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle with about 1-2 T of canola oil.  Place in the oven and roast for approximately 45 minutes.

Heat up a medium stock pot and add about 2-3 T of canola oil.  Add the onions, fennel and garlic - season with salt and pepper and stir to begin sweating the veggies.  Cut up the carrot and parsnips and drop them into the pot also.  Season again with salt and pepper and lower the heat slightly so that the veggies soften slowly.  Stir occasionally, but let them go for about 15 minutes.  Once the squash is done remove from the oven and scoop out the seeds (and discard).  The squash should be soft enough to scoop out the flesh.  Add all of the roasted squash to the pot with the sweating veggies.  Stir together and then add enough stock to cover the veggies (about 4 cups).  Bring it up to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, puree the entire soup mixture in batches (as large as your machine can handle).  I was able to do this in two batches in my Cuisinart food processor.  I added the nutmeg and garam masala at this point.  I really went crazy with the puree because I didn't want any surprise chunks in there.  Add it back to the pot and simmer until you are ready to serve.

No cream at all and this is one of the richest and creamiest soups I've ever tasted.  You really appreciate the taste of the parsnips and fennel, as those aren't traditional ingredients in a soup like this.  The hint of spices gives it that distinctly autumn taste and I'm glad I didn't have a heavier hand with the spice.  It was very well balanced.  I also garnished with a dollop of plain nonfat greek yogurt mixed with a few dashes of hot sauce. Delicious and surprisingly filling for a pureed soup.  He loved his birthday dinner and didn't even need a fork or knife to enjoy it :)