Impress your holiday guests with this beautiful, festive and yummy soup that looks wonderful served in a roasted acorn squash. The roasted squash tastes fabulous when scooped up with spoonfuls of the beet soup. It can also be made 3 days ahead. Adapted from a recipe published in Gourmet Magazine, November 2000.
Author: Celia Becker @ AfterOrangeCounty.com
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 12
Ingredients
For Roasted Squash
6 (2 lb.) Acorn Squash
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
For Soup
1 Large Red Onion, diced
3 Tablespoons Butter
8 Medium Size Beets, (about 3 lbs without the greens)peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2 Red Apples, (Gala or Braeburn) peeled, cored and cut into 1" pieces
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
12 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Teaspoon Fresh Ginger, Grated
¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Wash acorn squash. Cut off tops & remove stems.
Cut squash down the middle, horizontally, making 2 bowls.
Scoop out the seeds and discard.
Cut a very thin slice off the bottoms of the squash to create a stable base.
Brush squash bowls with olive oil inside and out.
Sprinkle inside flesh with salt and pepper.
Arrange squash in baking pans and roast until flesh is tender, about 1-1/4 hours.
Make soup while squash bowls are roasting:
Cook onion in oil in a large stock pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until tender.
Add beets and apples and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
Add broth then simmer uncovered until beets and apples are tender, about 40 minutes.
Stir in vinegar and brown sugar.
Puree soup in batches in blender until smooth. Use caution when blending hot liquids.
Transfer soup to stock pot and add fresh ginger and cayenne pepper.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
If soup is too thick, add chicken stock to thin.
Reheat just before serving.
Serve soup in roasted squash bowls.
Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a fresh sage leaf.
Recipe by After Orange County at https://afterorangecounty.com/2013/11/12/beet-soup-in-roasted-acorn-squash-bowl/