Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples & Bacon

This is a delicious recipe to enjoy the best of the fall flavors. To make this soup more filling, you can add some cooked brown rice.

Makes about 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, about 1 ½ pounds, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

1 large onion, chopped

2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped

4 turkey or pork bacon slices

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 TBS minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

3 TBS olive oil

1 TBS chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried

½ cup dry white wine or water

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spread the squash, onion, apples, bacon and garlic in a deep roasting pan or on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.
4. Roast, stirring every now and then, until the squash, onion and apples are tender and browned and the bacon is crisp, which takes about 45 minutes.
5. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. If you’d like, you can blend some of the squash to make a thicker broth (optional).
6. Stir in the sage and white wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom.
7. If you’re using a roasting pan that can be used on the stovetop, position the pan over 2 burners and put both on medium heat. Otherwise, transfer the contents of the pan to a large pot or Dutch oven and set it over medium heat.
8. Add stock and cannellini beans and cook until the squash, onion and apples break apart and thicken and flavor the broth, which takes about 25 minutes. You can help the process along by breaking the mixture up a bit with a spoon.
9. Stir in cooked brown rice if you would like.