Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup

I love butternut squash soup, and there's plenty of proof here on Hot Dinner Happy Home. I've made Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, and Apple Butternut Squash Soup. One would think I covered this delicious autumn treat in plenty of detail, but no. I need to take it one step further to solve the one issue I have with butternut squash soup: cutting up the squash.

It is a pain in my patootie (yes, I'm the mom of a toddler) to slice butternut squash. First you have to peel the darn thing. Then you have this giant, slippery vegetable, and you're supposed to take a knife to it? Yeah, good luck. It's like chopping down a tree with a butter knife. Typically I buy pre-cut butternut squash to save myself the hassle, but it's more expensive. And I hate to pay extra for something I can technically do myself.

So I set about making butternut squash soup that didn't require any squash chopping. I microwaved the whole squash until it was easy to slice in half. Then I roasted it with carrots, apple, and onion to add some complexity to the soup. It was super simple to scoop the cooked squash out of the shell and puree it with the veggies and some broth. And Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup was born!

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 apple, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1" slices
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
2 - 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Sour cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pierce squash with a fork in several places. Microwave 10 minutes on high, flipping over halfway through. (We want the squash to soften enough so it's nice and easy to slice in half.) Remove squash and allow it to rest until it's cool enough to handle. Slice squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Drizzle both cut sides of squash with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet.

Place carrots, apple, and onion on a second large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables so they're evenly coated and spread into a single layer on the baking sheet.

Roast the squash and carrots, apple, and onion for about 30 minutes, stirring the carrots, apple, and onion halfway through, until the vegetables are tender and caramelized.

Set aside squash for a few minutes until it's cool enough to handle. Scoop remaining vegetables into a large pot over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup broth into the rimmed baking sheet and scrape the browned bits off the bottom to incorporate the flavors into the broth. Pour broth from the baking sheet into pot with the vegetables. Once the squash has cooled, scoop the flesh into the pot. Pour about 1 3/4 cups broth into the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to your desired consistency. (If you don't have an immersion blender, blend in batches in a blender.) If the soup is too thick, stir in remaining broth until you're happy with the consistency.

Serve soup with a dollop of sour cream.