Have you started to notice I am totally crushing on butternut squash? I am absolutely obsessed with it lately. I have incorporated it into every, well almost every, dish I have made this week. Fall is my season, so naturally this glorious vegetable is the perfect representative of it. Orange is the colour of fall. I here you rolling your eyes...autumn. Lol.
This soup seems complicated with it's multi steps, but I promise the finished result will be worth it. Double the batch and really make the time work for you. It freezes beautifully.
Enjoy XOXOXO
Cavolo Nero Bean and Sausage Soup with Roasted Butternut Squash
Serves 6-8
For the soup base:
2 L. Chicken stock
30 ml. Extra virgin olive oil
300 g. Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
200 g. Potatoes, cut into roughly same size chunks as carrots
1 Large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Clove of garlic, peeled and left whole
To roast the butternut squash:
250 g. Butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
30 ml. Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Sweet paprika
1 tsp. Ground ginger
Salt and fresly ground black pepper to taste
For the Cavolo Nero:
150 g. Cavolo Nero (black kale), regular curly kale is fine if you can't find this) Cut into small bite size pieces
1 tsp. Course sea salt
1 tsp. Red wine vinegar
To Finish the soup:
400 g. Your favourite sausage, I used spicy Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled.
Browned and cooked on high heat in a non-stick skillet with no added oil, until crisp and cooked through.
1 (400 g.) Can Rosecoco or Cannellini beans, drained
(about 240 g. drained weight)
1. Pre-heat oven to 200°c/ 390°f. In a bowl, add butternut squash, garlic, paprika, ginger, salt and pepper. Toss well with 60 ml.( 2 tbsp.) extra virgin olive oil. Arrange on baking sheet pan and roast for 30-35 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make soup base and boil kale
For the Cavolo Nero
In a large stockpot add Cavolo Nero, vinegar and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 25 minutes. Drain and set aside to finish soup.
For the soup base
In another large stockpot on medium heat, add olive olive, onions and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
Add chicken stock potatoes and carrots. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, add half of roasted butternut squash and reserve rest to finish soup. Using a stick blender or regular blender, blend soup until smooth.
3. To finish soup
Add remaining roasted butternut squash chunks, cooked sausage, drained kale and beans. Stir through.
Serve with a thick hunk of crusty sourdough bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or even a dollop of crème fraîche.
