I made this in the slow cooker. Yeah, I did. And it was the weekend too, which mostly implies I actually had time to make this whole thing on the stove top and babysit it, like a good cook does. But I had things to do, hockey games to watch and puppies to kiss. So I was busy. .
Sigh.... puppy love. Obviously there was busy-ness
A butternut recipe is not really novel this time of year. But hear me out on this one. This is important. Yes - this recipe requires a bit of cooking outside of the slow-cooker - but the slow-cooker makes a soup like this possible on busy days. So you want to add a soup course to your holiday feast but don't have a burner to spare? - here you go. A hearty roasted soup after a long work day? Problem solved.
I found myself - at 9am on a Sunday - cleaning and chopping a butternut squash, a couple of onions and roasting them in a hot oven for 25 minutes or so while I finished putting away the groceries. Honestly, it could have been longer or shorter - I wasn't really timing myself. I took them out just as they started to colour a bit at the edges and were mostly soft. I figured they would continue to soften in the soup. Roasting the vegetables first concentrated their sweetness and increased their density. This is a roasted vegetable soup. The slow cooker did not change that at all - the final soup is sweet and deep.
Of course you could easily finish the soup on the stove top. Bringing the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients to a soft boil and letting them simmer for a bit would work too. Just simmer long enough for the vegetables to completely soften - the squash needs to get mushy. Puree and serve.
Coconut milk adds both sweetness and body to this soup. A creamy vegan soup with a pinch of hot spices. I used a mild and sweet curry mix - a garam masala that I am very fond of - with some cayenne for heat. I think you can be generous with the cayenne because this is otherwise a very rich and sweet dish - but use your taste buds as a guide.
After six hours simmering in a slow-cooker, we return from our third hockey game of the day to this fragrant soup. Just before serving I used a blender to purée (an immersion blender would make even faster work of here). While the kids set the table, heat a skillet and toast some pumpkin seeds for a garnish.
Roasted Butternut Soup with Coconut Milk
A creamy vegan soup for the slow-cooker
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 small white onions peeled and cut into quarters
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon garam masala or other mild curry powder
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss butternut and onions with olive oil and spread out in a single layer on the tray. Place in the heated oven and roast until starting to brown slightly on the edges. No need to cook the vegetables through all the way - at least 25 minutes.
- Place roasted vegetables, coconut milk, garam masala, cayenne, salt and 2 cups of water in 6 quart slow cooker and set to low for 5-6 hours.
- After the set cooking time, puree the soup with an immersion blender.
- For the garnish, heat a castiron on other skillet on medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds to the dry pan and toast, 5-7 minutes until the seeds are slightly brown and puffed a bit. Watch carefully they will burn quickly. Mix cinnamon and sugar together, along with a generous pinch of salt and toss into the pan quickly coating the hot seeds. Remove seeds from the pan and sprinkle on each serving of soup.
Notes
Soup could easily be adapted for the stove top. Instead of adding ingredients to the slow-cooker, heat mixture in a large sauce pan and bring to a low boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until vegetables are tender - at least 20 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree.
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Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says
Your soup sounds delicious! I love the addition of coconut milk and garam masala. We love butternut squash soup...looks like I now have another one to try! 🙂
Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says
And your puppy is adorable!!
Trish @infinebalance says
Haha! Yes she is.