Butternut Squash And Tomato Soup

Roast tomato and garlic

1. Preheat the oven to 420 F. Wrap tomato in foil. Slice ¼ inch top part of the garlic head off leaving cloves exposed. Wrap garlic in foil. Roast garlic and tomato for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, discard the foil and let garlic and tomato cool on a counter.

Sauté onion and carrot

1. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet and over medium heat. Add carrot and onion and cook stirring occasionally until onion is translucent, 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Sauté Butternut Squash

1. Melt butter in a large pot and over medium heat. Add butternut squash and sauté until slightly brown on sides, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable broth and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

Cook vegetables together

1. Add sautéed onion, carrot, 2 ½ cups of vegetable broth, cumin, paprika, Cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Cook bacon

1. At the same time, add bacon in a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until fat is released and bacon is crispy, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate.

Add tomato and garlic to a soup

1. Peel roasted tomato, slice it in half, remove the seeds and roughly chop. Squeeze the garlic pulp out of its skin and add it along with tomato to the soup.

Puree the soup

1. Using an immersion blender puree the soup until creamy and smooth. (Note 1)If it's too thick, add the remaining ½ cup of broth. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve

1. If you want to make this soup even more decadent, ladle it into the bowl and drizzle with a bit of heavy cream. Yum!
2. This soup goes great with my mom's homemade Savory Pumpkin Loaf.