Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Garlic and Goat Feta Crostini

Rich, warm, and supremely satisfying, this soup greatly benefits from sourcing a healthy stock or making your own if time allows.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 Tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) shallots, sliced
2 tsp (10 mL) garlic, minced
4 1/2 cups (1 L) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 cup (125 mL) carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup (250 mL) potato, peeled and diced
6 1/4 cups (1.42 L) vegetable stock
3/4 cup (180 mL) heavy cream
1 bay leaf
1 tsp (5 mL) fresh thyme, minced
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
1 lemon, juiced

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add shallots and garlic and saut until lightly coloured (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add squash, carrots, potato, stock, heavy cream, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then simmer until all vegetables are soft (7 to 10 minutes), then add minced thyme. Remove bay leaf and blend soup with a hand blender until smooth. To finish, season with sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Roasted Garlic and Goat Feta Crostini

1 1/2 Tbsp (22 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp (5 mL) thyme, minced
1 baguette, sliced into 1/4-inch
(6 mm) slices
1 1/2 Tbsp (22 mL) goat feta
2 tsp (10 mL) roasted garlic

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Mix olive oil and thyme together and brush onto the baguette slices. Toast in the oven until crisp. Once crostini is cooled, mash feta cheese and roasted garlic together and spread onto crostini. Warm in the oven for 2 minutes before serving.

Serve soup in warm bowls topped with warm crostini. Serves 4.

source: "A Healthy Habit", alive #291, January 2007