This Paleo spicy butternut squash soup with chorizo will up your winter soup game with flavorful chorizo and smoky adobe sauce. No butter or cream is needed in this already velvety, dairy free soup!

We're finally getting cooler weather in sunny California.

While you can't always tell by the temperature what month it is in Los Angeles, you can at least tell a change of season by the produce at the farmers' markets.

I love seeing the big butternut squash in all its shapes and sizes.

Simply roasting squash brings out great flavor with a touch of sweetness, but sometimes I don't have the patience for the oven time it needs, though I do love how it tastes.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo

I decided to get my trusty Le Creuset French Oven out, aka, big Red.

Big Red served me well while living in Paris, seeing as I didn't have an actual oven.

This bad boy was my everything and saw many a "butternut" in it, as well as chilis and any stew you can imagine.

I recently fired up Big Red and decided to keep the oven off like old times.

I like how you can do everything in the French, or Dutch oven, but of course you know I'm partial to the French.

Sautéing onions and cooking chorizo in the same dish just means that you can infuse more flavor into everything else that gets added.

The Vitamix or other high-speed blender turns the whole mix into a velvety rich dairy free soup, with no butter or cream needed.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup With Chorizo
{Paleo, Dairy Free, Gluten Free}

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, approximately 1-1/2 pounds
8 ounces fresh chorizo, casing removed (if vegan can use soy chorizo)
1 large shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup of celery, chopped
1/3 cup of cored apple, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups of chicken (or vegetable) broth
1 teaspoon of Chipotle pepper paste
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup of toasted pepitas

Instructions

Peel and seed the squash so only bright orange flesh remains, and then cube.
Place Dutch/French oven over medium heat and cook the chorizo. Once browned, remove the chorizo from the pan, leaving drippings. Add shallots and cook until fragrant and translucent, then throw in the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Combine celery and apple and cumin, stirring for about 3 minutes. Add the squash and mix, 5 - 10 minutes.
Once mixture is fragrant and browned, add the chicken broth. When a boil has been reached, turn the heat to low, add half the chorizo back in, along with the chipotle pepper paste. Stir and cover for approximately 20 minutes of until flavors are combined and vegetables are tender.
Remove from heat and transfer to a high speed blender, ensuring proper coverage so as not to burn yourself. Add the lime juice and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
Top soup with remaining chorizo and toasted pepitas.