As the season turns and the weather cools down, it’s time to break out your leather jackets, gloves and scarves, and best of all, get down with some soul-satisfying comfort food. And with the fall bounty of root vegetables that will soon be filling supermarket shelves and Thanksgiving right around the corner, the time to make wholesome and delicious soups is now. Best of all with all of these soups recipes – they can be prepared well in advance of the big day, saving you valuable kitchen time in the days leading up to Thanksgiving dinner.
Chestnut Mushroom Soup
Meaty, smoky roasted chestnuts, cremini and shiitake mushrooms and fresh seasonal herbs play so nicely together in this earthy, seasonal soup that makes a truly elegant Thanksgiving first course. For a richer, more decadent soup stick with heavy whipping cream, or for a lighter starter, go with half and half, whole or even 2% milk.
Butternut Squash Bisque
Few things say autumn like a piping hot bowl of butternut squash pureed with vegetables, herbs and spices. Sage and nutmeg are the ideal spices for a Thanksgiving soup, and finishing it with cream makes it oh so rich and satisfying. Whatever recipe out there suits you, feel free to roast the squash before pureeing it for intensified flavor, and for a nice kick of heat, add some chipotle peppers, cayenne pepper, cumin or even curry powder.
Ginger Squash Soup with Parmesan Croutons
Winter squash, garlic, ginger, leeks and parsnips reads like a culinary version of a perfect movie cast ensemble. Each ingredient beautifully accents the flavors of fall, and the best part is that you can use acorn, kabocha, butternut or whatever squash interests you the most. You can knock this soup out in about an hour and given that the cream is basically replaced by chicken stock, it is low in fat and much lighter than the above options.
Try not to over-blend it because keeping a bit of chunkiness leaves a bit of welcomed texture.
So this Thanksgiving, enjoy your loved ones, savor the season and nourish the soul with a few batches of homemade soup. Sounds like a Norman Rockwell painting. Well, all right then.
