golden butternut squash gnocchi soup with garlic butter asiago crostini

Soup Saturday with this creamy and healthy Golden Butternut Squash Gnocchi Soup. For awhile I tended to a huge bag of butternut squash in my fridge and cooked about four iterations of this recipe for lunches since the container took up an inane amount of space in my fruit drawer. This soup is fragrant and laced with spice, but slightly sweetened with honey and the natural sugars of the squash itself. Dip some Garlic Butter Asiago Crostini into a bowl and well, it’s love at first sip.

We don’t seem to be heading into any more immediate cold weather here in old Florida. The polar vortex perhaps mellowed down. This afternoon (Friday) I enjoyed a run in the temperate conditions, fairly low humidity, a dance of sun and shadow as clouds reached lazily across the sky. I still prefer 60s to 70s. I missed already the satisfaction of a hot shower after navigating a chilled breeze. Pajamas aren’t quite as cozy when the air heats up. Nonetheless, conditions aren’t abhorrent, just prematurely spring-like. I can tolerate that.

For many of you, however, I’d imagine the dead of winter dominates your weather forecasts. A creamy, warming soup is essential for passing these brisk nights. The gnocchi sank a bit into the bowls, but I promise plenty of the pillowy potato rounds exists in each serving and helps fill and nourish the belly even more than the base soup.

The formula isn’t very fussy. I recommend you invest $20 or so for an immersion blender if you don’t have one already. This is the one I own, for reference. Immersion blenders are safer and easier than moving hot soup into a traditional blender and you don’t lose as much liquid as blender-wall residue as in your countertop unit. Also, far less machinery to clean, which is always a good thing for a busy cook.

Trying this recipe out? Don’t forget to leave a comment below with your thoughts and snap a photo for me to see what you made on Instagram!

More soup ideas for chilly nights:

Potato Leek Soup Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Boats

Winter Detox Vegetable Noodle Soup

golden butternut squash gnocchi soup with garlic butter asiago crostini

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Warm, inviting, and jazzed up with comforting spices like turmeric and paprika with the perfect cheesy dipping vessel.

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Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp honey
• 4-6 cups vegetable broth or water
• 3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup milk (I used oat, cream and whole milk are also acceptable)
• kosher salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 cups gnocchi
• 1 loaf ciabatta or baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

 

• Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven over medium, Whisk in flour continuously until fully combined with oil. Stir in onion, carrot, and celery and cook until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Mix in garlic, stir for one minute, then add turmeric, paprika, sage, cinnamon, tomato paste, and honey and warm an additional minute or two. Pour in broth or water and butternut squash cubes. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for about 8-10 minutes until squash is very soft and falls apart when pierced with a fork.
• Here you have two options. The first, my preferred, is to cream everything with an immersion blender until smooth and completely blended. I find this much safer, more efficient, and less messy than the following second option: a traditional blender. If that is your tool of choice, transfer 1-2 cups at a time and blend carefully until creamy, repeating batches until all of the soup is done. Once soup is back in the pot, pour in milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• During the squash boiling phase, prepare your gnocchi according to package directions. Alternatively, you can simmer the gnocchi directly in the soup if you want, but I find it takes on a strange doughy texture that way.
• Make the crostini. Heat broiler to HIGH. Melt butter in the microwave for :30, when whisk in garlic and a touch of salt and pepper to taste. Spread crostini rounds onto a baking sheet and brush one side with butter. Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until golden. Remove from oven, flip each crostini so the toasted side faces down, and brush the tops with remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with asiago. Slide under the broiler once more for an additional 2-3 minutes until cheese melts, bubbles, and turns a light golden brown in spots.