Sometimes I think what you garnish a soup with is almost as important as the soup itself. And that’s the case with this particular recipe. The acorn squash soup is pretty delicious all on its own, but it’s made WAY better with the addition of salty, roasted chickpeas. They also make this meal idea more filling with added protein.
We received a couple of acorn squashes in our CSA box during the last few weeks, so I’d been itching to try to make some soup, and I decided to think outside the box with the garnish.
I could eat warm soup with a hunk of baguette all day every day, but variety is the spice of life. And I’m happy to report that this slightly more healthy alternative is just as flavorful. Try it!
Acorn Squash Soup + Roasted Chickpeas, serves 2-3.
2 acorn squash
1/2 yellow onion
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
juice from 1 orange
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
salt + pepper to season
Start by roasting the squash and chickpeas. You can do this at the same time to cut down on total cook time. Or you can roast the acorn squash ahead of time in a slow cooker. For the squash, cut in half and place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Prep the chickpeas by rinsing and draining them from the can. Place in a bowl and drizzle on the olive oil, making sure each bean gets coated.
Then, sprinkle in the cayenne and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat (or parchment paper).
Roast the squash and chickpeas at 400°F for about 35 minutes. Depending on the size of your squash, you may need to roast for an additional 5-10 minutes. Test them by seeing if they can easily be punctured with a fork.
While those roast, in a pot or saucepan add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add in the finely chopped onion and saute until it begins to brown. Remove from heat.
Once your squash is ready, scoop out and discard the seeds. Then scoop out the soft insides and place in a blender.
Add the cooked onion and the orange juice. Puree until smooth. Depending on your blender size, you may need to do this in two batches. You could also do this step directly in the pot using an immersion blender. Up to you.
Once smooth, return the mixture to your pot. Whisk in the stock over medium/high heat. Taste and season with salt or pepper as needed. If you want to add a little richness to your soup, feel free to pour in a little cream or stir in some Greek yogurt.
While everything is still warm, serve with the chickpeas tossed on top. Enjoy! xo. Emma
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Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- ½ onion (yellow)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- juice from 1 orange
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 can chickpeas (15 oz.)
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
- salt + pepper to season
Instructions
- Start by roasting the squash and chickpeas. You can do this at the same time to cut down on total cook time. Or you can roast the acorn squash ahead of time in a slow cooker. For the squash, cut in half and place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Prep the chickpeas by rinsing and draining them from the can. Place in a bowl and drizzle on the olive oil, making sure each bean gets coated. Then sprinkle in the cayenne and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat (or parchment paper).
- Roast the squash and chickpeas at 400°F for about 35 minutes. Depending on the size of your squash, you may need to roast for an additional 5-10 minutes. Test them by seeing if they can easily be punctured with a fork.
- While those roast, in a pot or saucepan add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add in the finely chopped onion and saute until it begins to brown. Remove from heat.
- Once your squash is ready, scoop out and discard the seeds. Then scoop out the soft insides and place in a blender. Add the cooked onion and the orange juice. Puree until smooth. Depending on your blender size, you may need to do this in two batches. You could also do this step directly in the pot using an immersion blender. Up to you.
- Once smooth, return the mixture to your pot. Whisk in the stock over medium/high heat. Taste and season with salt or pepper as needed. If you want to add a little richness to your soup, feel free to pour in a little cream or stir in some Greek yogurt.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Instead of discarding the seeds, I HIGHLY recommend roasting them like pumpkin seeds with a little salt and oil. Such a nice crunchy/salted treat!
literally my new favorite soup- thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Soo making this soup! Will a food processor work as well?
This looks so great and perfect timing to with the weather. My FAV season
This looks soooo good!!!
http://talisatalksbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/ive-started-youtube-channel.html
Looks so delicious! Warm soup in the fall as it gets cold makes me feel at home. I want to try this recipe. Gonna pin it now.
This looks amazing! x
https://www.marjorievie.blogspot.com
I Am so going to try this recipe, I tend to shy away from vegetables I don’t know & acorn squash is one of them, I normally use butternut squash. Love the idea of the chick pea topping & they would make a nice treat without the soup. Thank you, just discovered your blogs & really enjoying the content ?
Such a lovely idea adding chickpeas instead of croutons, so much healthier. Your blog is so lovely!
Such a good idea adding chickpeas into the soup, so much healthier then croutons. I just found your blog, its so lovely!
http://worldbloggers.net/
Can you guys just like come to my house, cook a year’s worth of food and go DIY crazy? You are so talented!!!
www.littleblackshell.com
This looks so amazingly good! I can’t wait to try!
This looks so good! I have a question though. If I roast the chickpeas separately do I need to do them at a different temperature and for a shorter amount of time?
Thanks!
I love squash soup in the fall! Roasted chickpeas are another favourite. We sometimes roast them with cinnamon for a sweet alternative!
xo
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-Emma
That’s a good one. White wine and pasta are a dream combo if you ask me. 🙂
-Emma
Awe! Thank you Cassandra. I’ve been thinking about doing an ABM cookbook for a couple years now. As a food lover (and avid cookbook buyer) it’s a dream of mine. We don’t have one in the works, but maybe one day. It makes my day to hear you’d be interested. 🙂
-Emma
You know, some sank and others didn’t. I think it partly depends how many you add at once. Like, if you drop a big handful then all the bottom ones will likely sink. But, as you can see from the photos, many float too.
I after snapping these photos I promptly ate one of these for lunch and I stirred my chickpeas in as I like to distribute them throughout the soup (rather than eat a whole bunch in one bite).
🙂
-Emma
Hi Cherish! We still plan to do them once in a while 🙂 -Jacki
Hello everyone at ABM!
I absolutely love everything that you guys post for us and I understand you all have soo much going on but one of my favorite types of posts are the “favorite things” post. I love looking at where you guys get your inspiration but I haven’t seen them for a while . Are these types of posts done for now?