Apple and Butternut-Squash Soup with Farro

Apple and Butternut-Squash Soup with Farro. 

Do you ever experience days where you feel disconnected, out of touch and defeated? Well, I feel that way a lot lately and soup helps me with pulling myself together.

The Fall season has a lot to offer in terms of its food bounty, including apples, pumpkins, squashes, and my favorite: horror movies (not part of Fall food bounty). Tis the season!

Cheers!

Apple and Butternut-Suash Soup with Farro

Ingredients 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium butternut-squash, peeled, seeds removed and diced
2 apples, peeled, seeds removed and diced
3/4 cup red lentils
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves
1 large bay leaf
1-2 teaspoons raw cane sugar (optional, add at the end)
6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup cooked farro (use different grain to make it gluten-free or skip it all together)

Directions
Prepare the farro first according to package directions. I cooked mine in vegetable broth, and did not add any salt.

In a large soup pot, sauté the onion in oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and all the spices, including salt, pepper and bay leaf. Sauté for about 5 more minutes, and stir often. Add a splash of water if necessary to prevent from sticking. Add butternut-squash, apples, red lentils and vegetable broth. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for about 20-25 minutes until the squash is soft and the red lentils are creamy.

Turn off the heat, remove bay leaf, and puree the soup with an immersion blender until very smooth. Regular blender works well too. Taste for salt and pepper, and add the sugar if you desire for the soup to taste sweeter. I added 1 teaspoon of sugar to mine.

Serve with cooked farro.

Eat!