Make Ahead

White Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

March 18, 2011
5
1 Ratings
  • Makes 6-7 bowls
Author Notes

This is a crowd favorite in my house. The soup is thick because of the white beans, and warm with the butternut squash and rosemary. Bring on fall! —Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast

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Ingredients
  • 30 ounces Cannellini Beans (canned)
  • 1 Butternut Squash (halved)
  • 1/4 pound Pancetta (diced)
  • 1 sprig Rosemary (stem removed)
  • 4 cloves Garlic (rough chop)
  • 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
  • 2 Shallots (diced)
  • 2 stalks Celery (rough chop)
  • 1 Carrot (peeled, rough chop))
  • 4 cups homemade or LS chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup Half & Half or Cream
  • 1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • Kosher salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half, long ways and remove the seeds and pulp. Rub some olive oil on it, and put it in the oven on a baking sheet. Let cook for about 30 minutes.
  2. After the squash has been in the oven for about 20 minutes, heat some olive oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat.
  3. Add the pancetta and let crisp up and brown a bit, 5 minutes. Next, add shallots, celery, and carrots . Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to mirepoix and let cook for 10 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
  4. Add the rosemary and white beans to the mixture and let the beans soak up the flavors for about 5 minutes. Add a little more salt and pepper to the mixture,.
  5. Add all the stock to the pot, raise the heat and bring to a simmer. Add the garlic and let simmer for 10 minutes, until garlic is soft. Turn off heat.
  6. Remove the squash from the oven and add to the pot. With an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth. (You could strain through a fine mesh sieve if you wanted it to be super smooth, but I don't)
  7. Mix in the half and half/cream and Parmesan cheese and keep on very low heat until ready to serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

17 Reviews

Brenda January 26, 2017
just made the soup. it was great. Changed a few things. I used navy beans 1/2 the amount. The beans were cooked with a ham bone. Homemade broth with some chicken still in it. No other meat. Really loved the fact that you use the whole squash with skin on it. For a topping I added crispy broccoli.
Leslie January 6, 2017
This soup was too beany for me. I felt the squash flavor was overpowered by the texture and flavor of the beans. Ended up throwing it out
Lynn January 17, 2016
Made this today with some variations. I bought butternut squash already peeled and halved. I cut it up into slices and roasted the slices for 60 minutes at 400 degrees, turning them over after 30 minutes. That produced a more intense squash flavor. Used bacon in place of pancetta. I did use "better than bouillon reduced sodium chicken base" in place of homemade chicken broth, but soup was still very salty, even though I only added part of the salt called for in the recipe. Fortunately, it was thick enough to thin with a little more half and half and water. Delicious!
melissa E. December 2, 2015
Made this with bacon and it turned out great. yum!
Candace K. February 20, 2015
This looks amazing but how is this listed under vegetarian when using chicken broth and pancetta?
Brussels S. February 20, 2015
Hi Candace - You could just replace the chicken broth with veggie broth, and leave out the pancetta. It will change the flavor a bit, but a little extra salt could be added to make up for the pancetta. Hope that's helpful!
fuhsi December 23, 2013
Made this last week and it is amazing! Had some cooked beans in the freezer, so used those (organic sprouted mix from Costco and anasazi- here at elevation I have to pressure-cook beans, so I make extra and freeze). I used prosciutto- 4 slices- and that added the depth of flavor wanted. I also used the small butternut and the rest of a medium-sized kabosha that was on its way out. I also used the turkey stock, found on food52, from our Thanksgiving turkey.
Added note/fyi: I try to make a marrow-bone soup or stew each week and have been adding pureed beans to thicken the liquid component.
ConnieSayler December 31, 2012
Absolutely loved this soup! Made it according to the recipe! Fantastic!
gharader December 8, 2011
This is exquisitely delicious, like Thanksgiving in a bowl.
Ms. T. December 1, 2011
I made a variation of your recipe for our first course of Thanksgiving and it was a big hit! Thanks for sharing :) I wrote about it on my blog:
http://stillsimmering.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/the-sweet-taste-of-anticipation-butternut-squash-soup-savory-shortbread/
Brussels S. December 5, 2011
Thanks so much, Ms. T! Glad to hear the group was able to enjoy it and you were able to serve it for the holidays! Nothing better than hearing people out there are enjoying your recipes!
Ms. T. November 19, 2011
What a great recipe! Someone made this for our Bay Area Food52 potluck party and served it in glasses (so we could drink it while standing). It was delicious! I'm thinking of making it for Thanksgiving. It will be just the thing after we come in from our long, cold, and maybe rainy hike: a nice l'il bribe to get my guests warmed up and ready to help out in the kitchen!
KirstenS November 2, 2011
Thanks for posting this! We tried it last night and really enjoyed how layered the flavors were! My BF and I agreed it was neat that even tho this is a blended soup, we could really taste the white beans, the prosciutto, the rosemary, etc.

My only comments are...

1. Pancetta and prosciutto are very different. Did you really mean either/or? I chose prosciutto because it would be a little saltier and less fatty.

2. Were I to make this again (and I'm guessing I will!), I would actually use MORE buttnernut squash. We halved the recipe, and I used one whole (but small) squash, and I was left wanting more sweet squash-y flavor.

Minor comments for what a was a lovely fall dinner -- a complete meal in a bowl!
Brussels S. November 14, 2011
Hi ksherk- thanks for testing it out! You are right, prosciutto and and pancetta are very different, but I think the intent is that you have a salty fat to add to the dish. You could really use either or bacon for that matter. Whatever you think works best. I'll try adding more squash next time, thanks for the tips!
Brussels S. October 17, 2011
Thanks, Benjamin! So glad you were able to enjoy it. As for the bacon, you can never really go wrong with bacon. Adds that extra layer of smokiness!
Benjamin T. October 16, 2011
This recipe is absolutely delicious on a cold fall evening. Pancetta was a little bit expensive for me, but I got 1/4 lb thick-cut bacon to replace that instead and it turned out amazingly! I'll splurge next time to get some pancetta/proscuitto :)
monkeymom March 19, 2011
This looks wonderful. I'll be looking for butternut to try this!