by Michelle Wolfe, Rebecca Wolfe and Meredith Erickson

 This is a very simple recipe, and the inspiration behind it, like most of our recipes, stems from a happy childhood memory. Every year, our family would travel to Florida for March break—in classic Montreal snowbird style—and on the way, we always stopped at Prezzo, an Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Boca Raton. Instead of a typical olive oil to dip our warm crusty bread into, Prezzo would serve whole heads of squishy caramelized garlic, and we would delight in smearing the cloves straight onto the bread. We devoured more garlic than should be possible, so how we made it to the appetizers or mains is anyone’s guess. For this recipe, we took the memory of roasted garlic, added some seasonal gourds, and blended it all up into a satisfying winter soup.

Makes 6 Cups (4 Portions)

Ingredients

• 1 whole head garlic, divided into cloves and peeled
• 2 small butternut squashes, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup diced-small onion
• 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

Method

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, toss the garlic and squash with

3 tablespoons of the olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Transfer and spread out on a 13-by-9-inch sheet tray and roast in the oven until the squash is very soft, 40 to 45 minutes.

In a Dutch oven, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of the thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the roasted squash and garlic to the pot, followed by the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender (or directly in the pot using an immersion blender) until smooth. Check the seasoning, and adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with the remaining thyme leaves.

This soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 6 to 7 days or frozen for up to 6 months.

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Author Bios

Mandy Wolfe is one of the founders and creative minds behind Mandy’s. She is the company’s creative food director and head chef. With her sister Rebecca, she founded the charity The Welcome Collective, an organization that welcomes asylum seekers to Canada. She lives in Little Burgundy, Montreal, with her husband and four kids.

Rebecca Wolfe is one of the founders and creative minds behind Mandy’s. She works as the brand manager and designs each of the restaurant locations. Together with her sister Mandy, she founded the charity The Welcome Collective, an organization that welcomes asylum seekers to Canada. She lives in Westmount, Montreal, with her husband and three children.

Meredith Erickson has co-authored The Art of Living According to Joe Beef, Le Pigeon, Olympia Provisions, Kristen Kish Cooking, and Claridge’s: The Cookbook. She is currently working on her own book, Alpine Cooking, and on The Frasca Cookbook. She has written for The New York Times, Elle, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, and Lucky Peach. When not traveling, she can be found in Montreal, Quebec (with friends and family at Joe Beef).

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Excerpted from More Mandy’s: More Recipes We Love by Mandy Wolfe, Rebecca Wolfe and Meredith Erickson. Copyright © 2022 Amanda Wolfe and Rebecca Wolfe. Photography by Alison Slattery, Two Food Photographers. Design by Cow Goes Moo. Illustrations by Neethi. Published by Appetite by Random House, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.