This dreary winter weather has me craving a nice hot bowl of soup! There are so many benefits of soup when it comes to entertaining: obviously it tastes delicious, it’s super easy to make, feeds a ton of people AND it can be prepared the night before! All winners in my book!

I’m not sure if it has to do with the cold weather but I was drawn to the distinctive taste of roasted vegetables – the way they caramelize in the oven is perfection. I started with a tray of my favourite veggies – a mixture of carrots, peppers, parsnip, onions and butternut squash.

As my butternut squash was a pre-cut from the store kind (<– SO helpful sometimes!) and my other vegetables were rather larger in shape, I separated them and baked at different cooking times to ensure one did not burn. If you have all the vegetables the same size then you should not have an issue baking them together. Just make sure you check on them near the end to ensure they do not burn.

JMS TIP – Do not crowd your vegetables! To get that wonderful caramelized taste and crispy texture the vegetables need to breathe. Make sure you spread them out – put them on two different pans if needed. If they all stay squished together they will bake in a lovely steam bath and never live up to their amazing caramelized potential – you don’t want to deny them that do you!? HA!

Now the star of the show was the beautiful roasted garlic that I had prepared earlier on. I like to do a few bulbs at a time and keep them in the fridge to add to items I am cooking that week (as they keep for up to 7 days).

Once everything was roasted the hard work was complete! I just tossed everything together to puree it into something wonderful and tasty.

JMS TIP – I really recommend you making this soup (or any soup!) the night before. The flavours that come from it after sitting overnight are just amazing! I absolutely love having soup the next day because it tastes even more delicious. 

To add something additional I toasted up some mini vine tomatoes and placed them on a toasted crunchy baguette – absolute heaven!

As I mentioned above, soup is such a great entertaining option! You can make it the night before and it only takes a few minutes to warm it up the day of your gathering saving you time for other items that may need your attention. It works great as an appetizer or can be used as a main course as well. If you do plan on having it as a main remember to pair it  with some additional items like crunchy fresh bread for your guests. I hope you enjoy this warm cozy soup on the cold nights ahead!

Roasted Vegetable Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 garlic bulb

½ large parsnip (feel free to use a whole one if you like parsnips  – I personally did because I love them but they are very flavourful!)

2 medium carrots

3 medium peppers (red, orange, yellow)

1 medium onion

1 pound of butternut squash

6 cups of water

2 bouillon cubes

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp salt

Additional salt, pepper and oil for roasting vegetables

Optional:

Baguette

Mini vine tomatoes

Instructions for soup:
*Please note everyone’s oven is slightly different and cooking times may slightly vary – keep an eye on those wonderful veggies!*

1. Roasted garlic (can be done days in advance) – Cut a thin layer off the top of the bulb (as shown in pictures above). Pour some oil (sunflower, grape seed etc.) over the bulbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until the garlic is tender and has browned. Once cooled you can squeezeeee the garlic pieces out or pop them out individually with a knife/fork. They come out very easily!
2. Roasted vegetables – As I mentioned above, I did my butternut squash separately since it was quite small in size but it can also be done with other vegetables. Spread vegetables on your pan and drizzle with oil plus salt and pepper. Toss thoroughly together to ensure everything is coated evenly. Bake at 450 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender and have browned. Stir them once halfway through. My butternut squash was baked at lower temperature (375 degrees for 45 minutes) to ensure it would not burn as quickly.
3. Once everything is roasted – put ALL the vegetables into a large pot. Add 6 cups of water and 2 bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil and let soup simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Puree everything together with an immersion hand blender. You can also use a regular blender but may need to do it in two batches.
5. Once blended together – season it with the salt and pepper. You may need to add additional S+P depending on how much you added to your roasted vegetables earlier.
6. Stir everything together and enjoy!

Instructions for bread and tomatoes:
*These steps can be completed while waiting for the soup to boil*

1. For the mini vine tomatoes: place on a pan then drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The tomatoes slowly burst and become sweeter as they bake.
2. For the bread: Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Let the tomatoes get a head start and throw in your bread slightly after.
3. Once both are done remove the tomatoes very carefully with a spatula and place onto the baguette.
4. Finito!

Do you think of  delicious soup when you plan out your entertaining menu? What other food items come to mind during this cold winter season?