Butternut Squash Soup with Salted Maple Walnuts & Crispy Sage

Ingredients

1 medium-sized butternut squash

3-4 carrots

1 onion

6 cups of water

1 cube of vegetable stock

1 cup of walnuts

2 to 3 tablespoons of maple syrup

A pinch of good flaky salt

A few sage leaves

Olive oil

Preparation

Prepare your veggies. Remove the skin from the squash, slice it in half, scoop out the seeds and roughly chop the flesh into chunks. Peel and roughly chop your carrots and onion. Grab a few sage leaves and roughly chop them, leaving most of the sage leaves whole.

Pour a few drizzles of olive oil into your Dutch Oven and turn the heat up to medium/high. Add the chopped onion and sauté for a few minutes until they begin to cook down and become fragrant. Add the chopped squash and carrots, cover with water and toss in your cube of vegetable stock.

Bring the heat up to a boil and then lower to a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the veggies are soft.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400º℉ (200℃) and toss the walnuts in with 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup in a small bowl. Line a baking sheet with Kana parchment paper and place the walnuts on top, ensuring none are touching each other. Toast them in the oven for about 8 minutes or until fragrant. Keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t burn.

Pour a drizzle of olive oil into your Cast Iron Skillet and arrange the sage leaves in it without letting them overlap. Turn the heat up high and fry for a minute until the leaves are crispy. Remove the leaves from the skillet and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Season with flaky salt.

Once the veggies in your Dutch oven are soft, drizzle in a bit of maple syrup and blitz the soup until silky smooth using an immersion blender, or by transferring to a food processor or standing blender in batches. Once blended, transfer the soup back into the pot.

To serve, top with the walnuts and crispy sage leaves.