Description

This fall harvest soup is a combo of kabocha squash, sweet white onion, peppers and garlic. It’s sweet and creamy, with just a hint of umami.

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups kabocha squash flesh
2 large red bell peppers, sliced into quarters
2 large carrots, chopped into small pieces
1 medium sweet white onion, chopped into quarters
5 garlic cloves
5 cups water, divided*
½ cup raw cashews
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sage
½ tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the kabocha squash in half and place it face-down on the baking sheet, along with the red bell peppers, carrots, onion and garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake the veggies in the oven for 45 minutes or until the squash is super tender and falling apart and the veggies are slightly charred. I like to bake the veggies in the middle rack of the oven and then for the last five minutes, move the pan to the top rack and broil the veggies on high.
Once the veggies are done, scoop out the kabocha squash flesh, squeeze out the garlic and add to a blender, along with the rest of the veggies. Add any juice from the pan; don’t waste that flavor. Pour in 3 cups of the water, along with the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and spices. Blend on low and slowly ramp the speed up to medium-high, blending for about 3-4 minutes until the soup is super smooth and creamy.
Once the soup is blended, pour it into a large pot and add in the remaining 2 cups of water. Heat the soup on medium-low until it reaches a soft boil. Adjust seasoning, add more water if needed, and enjoy with toasted sourdough bread or fried pumpkin seeds.**

Notes

*My Vitamix is pretty big, but it can’t handle an enormous volume of soup. So I blend the veggies with half of the water (3 cups) and add the remaining 2 cups of water later. That way my blender doesn’t break and I don’t have soup splattered on my kitchen cabinets haha. Also, feel free to add an additional 1-2 cups of water if you like your soup on the thinner side.

**Add fried pumpkin seeds and sage as a crunchy soup topping. Recently started doing this and can’t believe I didn’t try this sooner. Just fry some pumpkin seeds with a drizzle of olive oil on medium-low heat. Make sure to stir them frequently. Once they start browning a little, add in a handful of fresh chopped sage. Continue to fry the seeds until they pop and the sage leaves have wilted.