Cooking: Soup with Butternut Squash, Spinach and Sausage Ravioli (Recipe)

Happy Halloween! We are taking the girls trick-or-treating tonight in their store bought costumes. (See this post for my slacker approach to Halloween.) If you are celebrating the spooky holiday I hope it is safe and silly and filled with friends rather than scary! At least that's the way I like it. I am just happy about mild Fall weather and an evening of walking around.

I just love soup season! Don't you? I could eat it every day when it's cool outside. Not to mention the one-pot simplicity, the general good-for-you characteristics and the endless variety. I probably don't need to convince you....

Because I've been battling a cold and wanted some comfort food rather than the typical snack-y lunch, I decided to make a soup yesterday with some ravioli I picked up at Costco. I wasn't expecting much, just thought it would be nice to eat the pasta in some warm broth, but it was a winner! And it's healthy. So I thought I'd share the recipe. Would be a great one to eat before heading off for an evening walk in the leaves.

The ravioli is a trendy chicken sausage with kale. I love getting those good greens and decided to up the nutritional value by throwing in some spinach too. Potato would be great in this soup but I went with butternut squash--the more colorful the better, right? Plus I love the sweetness. You can taste the carrot in this particular vegetable sotck and it tastes really when it's preceded by some sauteed onions (reminds me of a carrot/onion soup I love). I'm telling you, the combination is great!

Click through to read the recipe.


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
48 ounces organic vegetable stock (I used the brand Naturally Preferred)
16 ounces cubed butternut squash (you can use fresh or frozen--I used frozen)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package (8 oz) Monterey Gourmet Foods Chicken Sausage and Kale Ravioli (I purchased this in a 2-pack at Costco
4 big handfuls of fresh spinach leaves (I used half a 10oz bag)
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Heat a soup pot over medium heat and then add the olive oil to coat. Add the diced onion and saute until it is soft and golden.  Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the butternut squash, basil and thyme. Reduce the heat and simmer ten minutes. Add the ravioli and fresh spinach. Cook until the pasta is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve!