Time: 3 hours

Yield: 6 servings

This year, my garden provided a healthy supply of eggplant and butternut squash.  My garden helps to challenge me to make new foods.  This new soup used eggplant, butternut squash and sage from my garden.  It was fresh, healthy and so tasty.  Also, like most soups, it’s very versatile! You can add or substitute your favorite vegetables and still come up with an amazing soup!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2.5 lbs eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 yellow onion
• ½ ounce of fresh sage
• 14.5 ounce can of diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 quart (4 cups) of vegetable broth (or broth of your choosing)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Optional: toasty bacon and sage and freshly shredded parmesan cheese for serving.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Peel and chop your butternut squash, eggplant, carrots, and 2 cloves of garlic. Chop your red pepper. Coat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a large roasting pan.
3. Roast your vegetables for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.  Flip half way through to evenly cook.
4. While your vegetables are roasting, prepare a large stock pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Sauté the chopped yellow onion and 3 remaining cloves of garlic in the olive oil and butter.
5. Once transparent, add your sage.
6. Once vegetables are done roasting, add them to your sautéed onion, garlic and sage.
7. Add the can of fire roasted tomatoes and broth.
8. Simmer for approximately 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to your taste preference!
9. Use an immersion blender to blend your soup.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender, just make sure you allow your soup to cool a bit first for safety. 
10. Optional for serving: Chop and pan fry bacon until very crisp. Add sage and allow it to become crispy.  Use this to top your soup.  

If you like this recipe, try our other Soups like Wonton Soup and Gazpacho.