Butternut Squash and Barley Soup

Halloween approaches and the neighborhood is festooned with decorations — the fake cobwebs, the plastic skeletons, the inflatable ghosts that sway on lawns with a menace that Sylvia would have found baffling. "What is this holiday?" she asked me once, genuinely confused, because Sylvia grew up in a world where holidays meant something and did not involve purchasing inflatable spiders. I explained. She was unimpressed. I have inherited her skepticism but not her outright dismissal — I participate enough to not be the crank on the block, which means I put out a bowl of candy and a tasteful pumpkin and call it done.

Ethan wants to be a scientist for Halloween. He is five and very committed to this costume, which involves a lab coat David made from a white pillowcase and a pair of safety goggles from the hardware store. Sophie wants to be a butterfly, which is more conventional but no less charming. I have offered to take them trick-or-treating on Thursday while David and Jennifer manage Noah, who at six months is too young for candy but not too young for a pumpkin onesie, which Jennifer purchased and which I have seen in a photograph and which is the most ridiculously adorable thing I have ever seen, and I include in that assessment forty years of student Halloween costumes.

I made pumpkin bread — two loaves, one for us and one for the school faculty lounge, because the faculty lounge in October needs pumpkin bread the way the faculty lounge in June needs sanity: desperately and without negotiation. The bread is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and it's the kind of baking that makes the house smell like fall has moved in and set up permanent residency in your kitchen. Marvin ate two slices and said, "This is good." He says this about everything I make now, which is either a compliment or a loss of discriminating taste, and I choose to take it as a compliment because I am choosing, wherever possible, the kinder interpretation.

Once you’ve spent a morning filling the house with the smell of cinnamon and cloves, it feels almost wasteful to let the oven go cold and the mood evaporate. The same October afternoon that produced two loaves of pumpkin bread also produced this soup—because Marvin was going to need something for dinner, and because a house that already smells like fall deserves to commit to the bit entirely. Butternut squash and barley is the savory answer to everything the bread started: warm, substantive, and deeply unfussy, which is exactly the kind of cooking I have energy for when there are also butterfly wings and a lab coat made from a pillowcase to think about.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Toast the spices. Stir in the thyme, sage, and smoked paprika and cook for 30 seconds, allowing the spices to bloom in the oil.
Add the squash and barley. Add the cubed butternut squash and rinsed pearl barley to the pot. Stir to coat everything in the aromatics.
Add liquids and tomatoes. Pour in the broth, water, and diced tomatoes with their juices. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Simmer until tender. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and simmer for 40–45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the barley is fully cooked and tender and the squash is soft but still holds its shape.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. The soup thickens as it sits; add a splash of broth when reheating leftovers.

Nutrition (per serving)

Butternut Squash and Barley Soup — The Warmth That Lives in an October Kitchen