Autumn Pear and Butternut Squash Soup

This soup breaths cooler fall nights, it is THE perfect soup to get you connected to your local seasonal produce. The hazelnuts are ready to pick, the butternut squash are curing in the fields and the pears are freshly picked off the tree. The roasted rosemary and hazelnut topping is a big hit, it adds beautiful texture and enhances the flavours of the pear and squash. If you wanna get serious, you could always roast the pears first, this will give another depth of flavour and add some more sweetness to the end soup.

Pear_butternut_squash_soup1.jpeg

Ingredients

665 grams or 6 cups butternut squash (cubed)
1 ½  cups onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 can full fat coconut milk
1-2 teaspoons Red curry powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
2 yellow pears (ripe, halved and cored)
3-4 cups chicken broth or veggie broth (add more if needed after blending)
¾ teaspoon salt *You may need to add more salt at the end

Roasted hazelnut and rosemary topping
½ cup hazelnuts (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
⅛-¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method
Sautée the onion, squash and garlic in the oil until onions are translucent. Add the  spices, cook for 1 minute, add the rest of your ingredients, bring to a simmer and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from the stove, allow to cool a bit before blending, season if needed

For the hazelnut and Rosemary topping, toss everything together in a bowl and bake at 325 °F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted.


Pear and Ginger Muffins

Pear_ginger_muffins_2.jpeg

Pear and ginger go together like honey and vanilla, no shit! I have worked on this recipe for a week straight now to get them perfectly imperfect. I’m a recovering perfectionist so I will never say anything is perfect anymore.

These beautiful soft, moist babies are gluten free (always), very low sugar (1 TBSP honey added) and they are great for the gut. The apple sauce and pears actually help feed our good gut bacteria so, BOOM!

Ingredients
⅓ cup apple sauce
¼ cup coconut milk (room temp)
¼ cup butter (melted)
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs (room temp)
1 cup almond flour
½ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup coconut flour (sifted)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt 
½ teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 cup fresh pear (diced small)

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
Combine all of the wet ingredients in one bowl and mix well
Combine all of the dry ingredients in another bowl and combine well
Add the chopped pear to the wet ingredients and fold the mixture into the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter into 8 muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes

*Make sure the baking powder is fresh or else these babies won’t rise as much as they should. Do not over mix so these babies are soft, moist and perfectly imperfect.