Roasted Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

It's autumn and that means two really fantastic things: soup and squash! I absolutely LOVE winter squash. It's so versatile and fun and pretty and I always just want to snuggle up inside of it! Plus, it keeps for so long and adds a really cute flair to your kitchen. Toss it in a soup, snuggle up in a blanket, and oh what a cozy night you have ahead!

This recipe uses real pumpkin, too. If you can't get your hands on an actual pumpkin, you can totally substitute a 15-ounce can of unsweetened pumpkin puree, but going the extra mile with the real thing is what brings out the earthy autumn flavor in this recipe. I like to serve this as the main dish, but it would be a great side to some squash pot pies or whatever else you'd like to have for dinner!

This makes about six servings as a main dish. Far more if you're using it as a side.

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Ingredients

• Smallish sugar pumpkin (about a pound), seeds and stringy guts removed and quartered (save the seeds for roasting!)

• 3 large sweet potatoes, cut into about 1-inch chunks

• Olive oil

• 1 cup chopped leeks

• 3 cloves garlic, rough chopped

• 2 large carrots, cut into about 1-inch pieces

• 2 tsp thyme leaves, rough chopped

• 1 Tbsp rosemary, rough chopped

• 3.5 cups vegetable stock (more to preference)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Pepitas/pumpkin seeds, sliced green onions and/or parsley to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (about 205°C). Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet, drizzle with some olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the sweet potato on a different baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to make sure it's all evenly coated. Bake the pumpkin and sweet potatoes for 35 to 40 minutes, checking about halfway through to mix the potatoes and make sure the pumpkin isn't burning. You may want to rotate them between your oven racks, depending on how close to the heating element things are.

2. When done, set aside to cool for a bit. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the peel.

3. While the pumpkin and sweet potatoes are roasting, heat 2 Tsp of olive oil in a large pot (a heavy-bottomed stockpot will work best). Add in the leeks and carrots, season with some salt and pepper, and cook until the carrots begin to soften.

4. Add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme, and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.

5. If the sweet potatoes and pumpkin aren't done roasting, turn off the heat. Once they're done, either add them to the pot along with the vegetable stock and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a normal one, probably working in batches, until smooth. Then add it back to the pot.

6. Cook on medium-low until warmed through. Once things start to get warm, you're going to want to keep stirring so that the soup doesn't pop all over your kitchen. Be careful to not burn yourself. At this point, if you want the soup to be less thick, mix in additional vegetable stock or water until you achieve the consistency you like.

7. Serve topped with pepitas, green onions, and parsley for a nice, fancy-looking touch.