Kicked-up-a-notch Butternut Squash Soup

Over Columbus Day Weekend, I went home for a visit.  Fall in Upstate New York is truly beautiful, magical, and done right.  Few other parts of the county do fall like we do fall.  There are apples, pumpkins, hayrides, and breathtaking fall foliage that is every shade of yellow, orange and red.  I have lived in New York for so long, that I pity anyone who has not ever gone apple picking (being restricted to two rows of two types of apples does not count).  An apple straight off the tree is one of life's simple pleasures.  My parents and I had a perfect fall weekend.  Here's how it went down:

I arrived home late on Friday night.  It was chilly and that's just how I like it.  The next morning I woke up bright and was ready to get this weekend underway.  We had lots to do and not very much time, so we were off to pick up some groceries.  My mom and I decided on butternut squash soup for dinner with crusty rolls.  But we decided to alter the recipe a little to our taste, and because we like experimenting.  This was one of eight butternut squash soup recipes I had pinned on Pinterest (whoops!).  

Once I was back from my visit home, I decided to recreate the soup and it turned out great.  When I made the soup this time, the butternut squash wasn't quite as sweet and flavorful, so I added a small amount of brown sugar and some cinnamon to the soup to help it along a little, and that did the trick.

I had a spark of inspiration while grocery shopping to make the soup and I thought that topping the soup with roasted brussels sprouts, pomegranate seeds, and chopped walnuts.  It did seem a little random, but I was pretty sure it would be delicious...and it sure was!  I loved the crunch of the pomegranates and walnuts, and the roasted flavor of the brussels sprouts.  

Here's how it went:

^^ I cooked two leeks (whites and light green only), onion and garlic until they were soft.  The recipe called for fennel, but we swapped that out for leeks instead because we like leeks a lot!

^^ The recipe called for roasted butternut squash, but I decided to steam it instead. 

^^Once the squash was cooked, I added it to the pot with the softened veggies. 

^^I added in the chicken broth.  

^^And dried sage and dried thyme.  

^^Somewhere in there I used a hand blender to puree the soup, but I forgot to take a photo.  Typical.  But, TADA--the finished product!

^^ I sliced up some brussels sprouts...

^^...and covered them with olive oil, a tiny bit of salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven (350 degrees) until they were a little brown.

And because I am terrible at taking photos while cooking, imagine there is a photo of the soup in a bowl topped with the brussels sprouts, pomegranate seeds, and chopped walnuts.  It was delicious!