Miso Butternut Squash Soup with French Toast Grilled Cheese
This taste like Thanksgiving in a bowl.
We’re back from our Oahu Adventure and getting back in the swing of life. I had the worst case of the Sunday blues last night, but it was Tuesday night which made everything more confusing and depressing. I don’t wanna go back to real life.
I wanna be Hawaiian and listen non-stop to IZ’s version of somewhere over the rainbow and swim in the ocean every night as I watch the sunset and have other people cook me fancy things I’ve never eaten before, like semifreddo. I mean, how completely delicious.
Andrew and I got home yesterday afternoon and just tried to stay awake until a semi-normal Houston bedtime. We went on a walk and tried to distract ourselves from how sleepy we were. Then I edited these pictures and reminisced on cozy soup + french toast grilled cheese goodness.
As was mentioned, this soup is like Thanksgiving in a bowl, which would be very seasonal of me if I would’ve waited until after Halloween to tell you about it, but I don’t wanna wait. I wanna tell you NOW. NOW so you can start making a list of all the things you need to eat in November and December to feel holiday-y.
AND make a list of all the movies you need to watch to feel holiday-y. (i.e. both Home Alone movies, The Holiday, The Family Stone, The Santa Clause (preferably the first one), Arthur Christmas (I know people had mixed feelings but I thought it was the cutest!) and Jingle All the Way.
Back to soup.
It’s pretty much a rule that if you’re eating soup in fall you should be eating it with a grilled cheese. In order to make grilled cheese more fun, you can add a delicious jam or bacon or avocado or you can do all of the above and also dip the bread in eggs to make the most epic grilled cheese. Or the most epic french toast, depends on how you look at it. Either way, it’s delicious and you’re going to love it.
This was my first time using miso and I now have a giant jar of miso left over and every time I see it I say something along the lines of miso hungry. What do you do with miso? I need ideas! Teach me your ways! Until I’ve got more ideas for miso, I’ll be putting it in the creamy soup.
Miso Butternut Squash Soup with French Toast Grilled Cheese
Yield: serves 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients:
butternut squash soup
2 small-medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
3/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 Honeycrisp apple, sliced, skins on
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
4 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown rice miso paste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups chicken broth
grilled cheese french toast
8 slices favorite bread (slightly stale works best)
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup cheese (I used a mix of extra sharp white cheddar + asiago)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Toss butternut squash in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake for ~40 minutes, or until soft, stirring once during cooking time. In a large pot, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add in apples and onions, cook until softened, ~15 minutes. Stir in roasted butternut squash, butter, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, cook until fragrant, ~1 minute. Add in miso paste and 2 1/2 cups of broth. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow soup of cook for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a shallow dish, whisk together eggs and milk. Add in bread slices and allow them to soak. Grease a large casserole dish and add in 4 slices of bread in a single layer. Top with cheese and a piece of bread. Bake for 25 minutes.
Use an immersion blender or a blender to puree your soup until smooth and creamy. If desired, add in more broth to reach your favorite consistency.
soup recipe slightly adapted from Kendall-Jackson
