Bein’ needlessly tedious about some butternut squash soup! Oven-roasting the squash first in olive oil. The squash’s little friend is a head of garlic with the top third removed, the cloves oiled, and topped with a little aluminum foil hat; I’m roasting it, too. 
You CAN just cube the squash, mince the garlic, and throw it all in the soup pot raw--I do that myself when I'm not feeling fancy-- but roasting it first makes it all tastier.
Anyway, it's in the oven for the next 30-40 minutes, at 400 degrees.
UPDATE: thew some carrots in the oven to roast too, why not.
While all of that is roasting, diced up one large onion. It’ll be the only vegetable to go directly into the pot without being roasted first. Maybe it could’ve been? Whatever. This is how I’m doing it today.
(In the little Pyrex container off to the side: beef tallow. It won’t be appearing in this recipe, but I highly recommend saving any rendered fat you get when you cook good quality beef.)
Post-roasting. Look at that garlic clove popping out of his skin! It’s ready to get going! WHAT’S THE GODDAMN HOLD-UP, asks garlic clove.
Properly roasted garlic cloves are slightly golden, mushy, and can be squeezed right out of their skins. Roasted butternut squash can be spooned right out of its skin. Roasted carrots, they pretty much just get wrinkly.
Anyway, it all goes in the stock pot where the onion has been frying in olive oil until translucent and soft. I throw everything in in big chunks, then whiz it all up with an immersion blender. But you can wait until it’s all cooked and go after it with a potato masher, too!
This is starting to look done, but it’s not. Despite all of that olive oil we had the veggies roasting in, this definitely needs a fat. So...
The sole deciding factor for my use of coconut milk was pretty much “You have been in the pantry too long, and you must leave.” You don’t have to use it. You can use milk, heavy cream. Hell, you can just throw in a few slabs of butter. It all works.
But since I’m using coconut milk, I’m gonna sorta futz a bootleg, inauthentic flavor profile and add some ginger and lime juice when seasoning time comes. Maybe some dried cilantro. This is pretty freeform, honestly.
Sidenote: this is my adorable, ceramic, Japanese-style ginger and garlic grater. I got it after seeing Chef use one on “cooking with dog.“
(Also, I saw I neglected to mention: going in the stock pot along with the roasted vegetables, but after the onions have been fried: 8 cups of broth. Your choice what kind, but I'd keep it light, veggie or chicken.)
And pretty content to call that done. Butternut squash soup, turned butternut squash carrot soup with Thai accents. Enough for ten to twelve have-it-with-a-sandwich servings, or six full meals. 🥘
This is endlessly customizable, like practically all soup recipes. Add shrimp! Add sausage slices! Add bacon! Throw some tortellini in there! Maybe some rice cakes! Drizzle on some cream to finish! Roast the squash‘s seeds and top the soup with them! I kept it pretty light.
For the folks asking, I’ve never made this with an apple added, but I wouldn’t be opposed; I pretty much always add an apple to my Japanese-style curry recipes.
Oh hey, y'know what would be amazing in this?
Chinese sausage.
Something to remember for next time.
Chinese sausage.
Something to remember for next time.
UPDATE: also good with a poached egg plopped on top. I just had a great breakfast. ♥
