Carrot and Ginger Soup

I love winter; I know that I am not the only one out there.  I love sweaters, wool socks and soup.  Both my Dutch oven and bread machine get heavy usage in the cold months.  It is quite ironic actually, I’d rather be cooking when it is cold out instead of during the plentiful months full of fresh wonders from the garden.  Don’t get me wrong I love using all of the fresh foods as well; I just feel that my meals begin to get stale by the end of the season because I am bored thinking up new dishes and instead dreaming of pureed soup. 

 Today is the first day of spring, you wouldn’t recognize it here in western NY, but for us a snowy spring day is a normal occurrence.  I just say bring it on, I can continue to make soup that many more days.  

This makes a large Dutch oven full of soup, it can easily be halved to reduce the quantity.  However like most soups, you’ll enjoy the leftovers even more the next day. I served this with a dark rye bread warm from the bread maker. 

1 medium butternut squash, cleaned of seeds and sliced into hunks
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 3” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
8 cups water or chicken stock
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375’ and roast the squash until soft.  Cool until easy to handle, then peel and roughly chop.

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven until shiny.  Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent.  Add cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds stirring continually.  Add carrots, squash, ginger and water.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer until carrots are tender.  Puree in batches in a blender or use a stick blender to create a smooth consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.