Luscious – that’s the adjective I came up with to describe this soup. Creamy, velvety, decadent. It’s like a trip to the palace without all the pomp and circumstance. The addition of pure maple syrup at the end just pumps up the flavor to knock your tiara off. Seriously – that’s how good this soup tastes. My youngest sous-chef requested it for her birthday in the summer – its 85 degrees but this is what she wanted for her special day. Alas, I had to oblige. And numerous other times since then I have honored the requests.

Recipe

• 1 medium pie pumpkin – roasted – you can also use canned or a butternut squash
• 1 small onion – diced
• 1 large apple – diced
• 1 stick butter
• 1 head of garlic roasted
• 4 cups chicken broth – more to thin if needed
• 2-3 tsp Cinnamon – more to taste
• 4 tbs pure Maple syrup
• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice – more to taste

Preheat the oven to 400.

Slice the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Place on a baking sheet at rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. At the same time, roast the garlic by cutting the top off the cloves, drizzling with olive oil and wrapping it up in some tinfoil. Depending on how big your clove is this should take about 20-30 minutes to get nice and toasty. Remove and let cool.

While the squash and garlic are roasting, heat up a deep sided pot and throw in your diced onion and apples. Cook on low/medium until nice and caramelized – about 30-40 minutes.

Once your pumpkin and garlic have cooled enough to handle, add them to the pot with the onion apple mixture. Mix it all together and add in your spices. Slowly add in your chicken broth and incorporate together. Use an immersion blender to whip the ingredients into a smooth velvety soup.

Now for the piece de resistance – brown the butter by heating a stick of butter until its nice and toasty – not too dark – we don’t want burnt toast just nice and browned. Add the butter into the soup and stir – then for the grand finale – add the pure maple syrup and combine.

Dish into bowls and feel like a queen as you slurp – politely – until the bowl is empty.

Bon Appetit!