#12DaysofHygge - Day 4: Roasted Fennel & Butternut Squash Soup • West Coast City Girl

There’s a frosty bite in the air, which means it’s officially hearty soup and stew season. With that, the next few #12DaysofHygge posts will be all about hearty food and beverage!

We had a roasted fennel and butternut squash for dinner last night. Much needed after a day of being out and about in the cold. (I was running errands and getting new photos shot for the blog. Really excited about the results!) I’m a little obsessed with fennel. I don’t like licorice, so I’m baffled about this fixation – perhaps it’s just more subtle than say… ouzo (*shudder*) – but I digress.

I love soup. It’s quick and easy to make, nutritious, and makes for excellent leftovers for lunch or when you don’t feel like cooking. This is a soup that I started making by cobbling bits of other recipes to my liking, and then the Brit took over and made a few more tweaks. Between the two of us making it a fair amount of times this year, I think we’ve finally gotten it to a spot on place. (The Brit also made bread last night, but he is still tweaking the recipe. Another day, another post.)

ADD VARIETY – If I’m having leftover soup, I like to stir a big handful of chopped kale or spinach into the bowl after I warm the soup up. It adds some variety and gives me an extra shot of greens for the day!

Normally I would haven take some fancy photos of the ingredients (like the fennel that I would smell all day, every day) or the soup, but honestly? I was exhausted and thoroughly enjoyed having my feet up while my guy cooked this fabulous soup. I got one in though, so I will take that as a win.

Roasted Fennel & Butternut Squash Soup

Servings: 4-6
Time: 45-50mins
Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 fennel bulb, (with green part removed), cut into 2 inch pieces
2-3 celery sticks, washed and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced or mashed through a garlic press
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (Whatever your preference!)
½ tsp thyme
Pinch or two of nutmeg – depends on how much kick you would likeCrushed black pepper to taste
¼ cup half & half (easily substituted with almond or coconut milk)

#GetThrifty Timesaver – You can find pre-cubed butternut squash in the frozen section at your local supermarket. It’s cheaper than a squash by weight.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Chop anything that needs chopping and prep your other ingredients
Toss squash and fennel with 1 tbsp of olive oil, a bit of salt, and whatever dried herbs strike your fancy,
Evenly spread on a large baking sheet grind 3-4 clicks of fresh pepper across the tray. Roast for 15-20 min
Heat the rest of the olive oil in a heavy soup pot, add onion, celery, garlic and thyme. Saute until the onion is softened.
To the soup pot add roasted vegetables and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer for 10-15 more minutes.
Season with nutmeg and 3-4 clicks of finely ground black pepper
Use an immersion/stick blender to blend until smooth (or transfer vegetables with some stock to the blender and then pour back into the pot)
Stir in your cream of choice
Enjoy solo, with bread, or with some savoury biscuits!

Whatever I’m doing, I’m in that moment and I’m doing it. The rest of the world’s lost. If I’m cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what’s the point of doing it?

~ Sade Adu