Roasted Butternut Squash Chowder (Roots & Fruits Chowder/Soup)

We call this soup Roots & Fruits Chowder because of the ingredients: all the root and the fruit veggies such as the yam/potato, carrot, squash, pepper, corn, etc. This delicious and warming chowder is perfect for a cool Autumn or Winter day and goes together rather quickly. All of the vegetables contribute to the wonderful flavor and color of this soup. Of course, as always, you can choose just a few or all of the veggies listed - just increase the amounts of the veggies you do choose if you eliminate some. I like using butter since we add cream to the chowder; but the oil is fine too especially if you are using soy or other non-dairy cream.

Ingredients:

1 medium white/yellow/brown Onion
2 or 3 ribs Celery with leaves
1 sprig fresh Sage (about 4 or 5 leaves) + more for garnish
3 to 5 sprigs fresh Thyme + more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Unsalted Butter
1 small Butternut Squash, pumpkin or other winter squash
1 medium Potato
1 medium Sweet Potato/Yam
1 Parsnip
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large Carrot, coarsely grated
4 cups Vegetable Broth or Water
2 Tbsp all purpose flour mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup light cream (any type)
1 pinch freshly grated Nutmeg (Optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Peel the onion and chop finely. Chop the celery. Place in a large rimmed lightly oiled baking pan with a little of the olive oil/butter, the herbs, salt and pepper and put in the oven while preparing the rest of the veggies.

Wash, dry and trim the vegetables. Peel the butternut squash, parsnip, and sweet potato. Remove stem, membrane and seeds of the butternut and pepper. Cut into 1/2" cubes.

Add the veggies to the onion mixture in the baking pan with the rest of the olive oil or butter and roast until veggies are tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Stir the veggies a couple of times so they cook evenly while roasting. Set aside.

Alternately, stir cook the veggies with the oil/butter until light gold.

Heat the broth/water in a large soup pot and stir in the flour + water slurry and cook until thickened.

Add the roasted veggies, corn kernels and the grated carrots and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the cream and heat gently until warmed through. Stir in the nutmeg if using.

Serve hot with freshly ground pepper; garnish each serving with sage leaves and thyme if desired.

Serve with corn muffins and a crisp fresh salad for a delicious meal.