Butternut Squash, Fennel and Red Lentil Soup with a Savory Granola

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BUTTERNUT SQUASH, FENNEL AND RED LENTIL SOUP WITH A SAVORY GRANOLA

It is officially soup season, and squash season! It was so cold in January, that all I wanted was hot soups, ramen, more soups, ramen lol. Although tomato soup is my all-time favorite soup, I do love a good butternut squash soup. Since butternut squash is inherently sweet, I love adding quite a bit of spices to the soup to make it savory and less sweet, to balance it out.

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I made this soup for a sponsored Instagram post with an olive oil company, but a lot of people ended up requesting the recipe, hence I thought I would put the recipe on my blog! The savory granola is really the star of the show on this luxurious soup! The savory granola is a wonderful addition, and adds the perfect crunch and saltiness to this subtley sweet soup. The savory granola was inspired by the Savory Granola on bonappetit.com. The savory granola has ingredients like oats, walnuts pumpkin seeds, fennel seeds, spices and toasted bread crumbs. The fennel seeds are added because I have fennel in the soup as well so the entire combination goes well together. The savory granola works so well with yogurt drizzled with a bit of honey. It makes the perfect wholesome breakfast!

butternut squash soup

 

The soup is really simple to put together. That is the beauty of winter soups! You can add a few fresh ingredients, along with spices, and vegetable broth, boil it for a bit, put it through a high speed blender, and you get a beautiful luxurious soup! This soup has wintry goodness like butternut squash, fennel and it is made hearty by adding red lentils.

This soup in itself is quite wholesome, and a bowl of soup with some crusty olive oil bread will suffice! The cayenne powder makes this soup a bit spicy but I love spicy especially in the winter because it instantly warms you up. You can omit it if you do not like spiciness in a soup.

 

The soup stores well too, and I like to make a big batch and serve it up during the week, when all I want is a quick soupy lunch, along with good ol crusty bread.

 

Ingredients in the soup:

The soup has really hearty, wholesome ingredients like:

  • Butternut Squash: This squash is cooling for the body and very good for you. I personally love butternut squash and use it in various ways in the fall and winter months in my cooking. It can be a bit hard to cut, but using a sharp knife is key. Peel off the skin using a good skin peeler.
  • Fennel : Fennel bulbs add a lovely mild taste and texture to the soup. And fennel fronds do make a lovely garnish on the top of the soup if you like that!
  • Aromatics : Red onions and Garlic are a must!
  • Red Lentils: They cook pretty fast, so adding red lentils, makes for a hearty delicious soup and you really do not require anything else to eat.
  • Spices: I add cayenne pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and dried thyme. They all add to the lovely flavor in this soup.

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I hope you get a chance to make this, and the granola, because they both are great together, OR you can even have it separately. My kids loved this soup and they wanted seconds too, which says a lot, of how much they enjoyed it! 🙂

 

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We have all been sick taking the rounds of fever, cold and cough and I am pretty much fedup of being sick. We are all on the mend but I am waiting for all of us to become 100%. Here is wishing all of you a healthy February!

 

XO

Amisha

 

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