Behind the blog, life wasn’t all yummy recipes & outdoor adventures this week, so you bet DadChef & I turned to one of our healthy coping mechanisms – finding some culinary calm cooking up all the things in la Cucina, silly stupid kitchen dances & a toast to walking through hard parenting things with the biggest glass of Cab Sav ;). We know families are looking at the upcoming cold weather months with a lot of added anxiousness about how they’ll navigate restrictions & more time indoors without homebound times becoming instanityville, so we’re sharing a combo of comfort food recipes that we enjoyed the last few weeks hoping they may at least help alleviate some dinner stress & soothe a tinge of our worried minds – a delicious Autumn Harvest Chicken Bake & Apple Squash Soup – both made a la sheet pan cooking method. If you live in Ontario, you should also check out our latest local outdoor adventure – “Schitt’s & Ladders” in Mono, ON – if a little nature therapy & comedic relief should like your style of fam-venture 🙂
Autumn Harvest Chicken Bake Ingredients
When I was planning to make this recipe, I actually wanted to make it with turkey thighs & drumsticks but our grocer was sold out. So chicken it was, but I’ll definitely be trying this with turkey this season too. As for the combo of veggies, we used peppers, brussels sprouts, potatoes & onions simply because this is what we had on hand, but there are no rules here. Other Autumn season veg like cabbage, squash, sweet potatoes and/or broccoli, eggplant, zucchini & cauliflower would taste amazing in this recipe too. For our American friends/family who may be having a smaller Thanksgiving gathering & want an alternative recipe to cooking the big bird, this is it…but swap the chicken for turkey!
Autumn Harvest Chicken Bake
Equipment
- Large baking sheet
Ingredients
- 14 Chicken Thighs/Drumsticks *we used 8 drumsticks + 6 thighs*
- 12-16 mini mixed colour peppers
- 1 doz brussels sprouts washed, ends clipped & cut in half
- 1 bag mixed little gems potatoes *we used combo of red, yellow & blue; cut into halves*
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 medium red onion chop in thick slices
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil *enough to drizzle over top of all the ingredients*
- Fresh rosemary sprigs *to taste & for garnish*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Space thawed chicken out on sheet pan. Add potatoes, brussels sprouts, peppers & onion. Drizzle olive oil over ingredients then sprinkle Italian seasoning & garlic powder evenly over the chicken + veggies. Add some fresh rosemary.
- Bake chicken & veggies on middle rack for 45 minutes, tossing veggies & potatoes once midway (after ~ 20 mins). Tops of chicken skin should be crisp & golden. Remove & let sit 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh rosemary.
If you enjoy this family recipe, tag us on Instagram @House_of_Kerrs, share on your favourite social channel or comment below!
Sheet Pan Apple Squash Soup Recipe
This Apple Squash soup was a first for us. To be honest, we usually by a nice pre-made squash soup we love from one of our small local grocers because the make your own recipes seemed so complicated. But, we had lots of squash leftover from our Canadian Thanksgiving & apples from our pick-your-own adventure and thought we’d try a sheet pan roasted version (*cooking method inspired by the Feed Feed, recipe creation all our own*). Oh my yum, guys! And our readers who prefer a thick & chunky soup to clear & liquid-y will LOVE the texture of this one. NOTE: we used leftover squash but have included the sheet pan recipe if you have to make a fresh batch. This Apple Squash Soup pairs nicely with your Autumn Chicken Bake as a starter or with your family’s favourite artisan bread to make it a meal all it’s own. We topped with roasted pumpkin seeds & sour cream. Bacon bits would tasted delish on top of this one too!
Apple Squash Sheet Pan Soup
Equipment
- Large baking sheet
- Dutch oven or pot
- Hand immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1/2 Butternut Squash remove seeds
- 3 Macintosh apples washed, cored & cut into chunks (*optional: you can remove skins before or after cooking*
- 2 yellow onion washed & chopped into chunks
- 2 heirloom carrots washed, tops removed, cut into big pieces
- 4 garlic cloves press each to loosen skins
- 1800 ml Low Sodium Broth *which as 2 containers or about 8 cups*
- 1.5 tbsp dried sage & thyme blend
- Coarse salt & ground black pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil *or enough to drizzle over chopped carrot, apples, onions & squash*
- 2 bay leaves
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds *optional: for garnish*
- Sour Cream *optional: for garnish*
Instructions
Sheet Pan Butternut Squash
- We used leftover butternut squash for this recipe, but if you don't have any, this is the recipe to follow. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut squash in half & remove seeds. Line baking sheet with parchment paper & lay squash out skin down. Drizzle with olive oil, dried sage & thyme. Sprinkle a few pinches salt & pepper. Bake on middle rack about 35 mins until tops are golden & squash is tender. Remove & let cool enough to be able to remove skin & dice one half of the squash into big pieces. You can use the other half for side dishes, appetizers, salads & more.
Sheet Pan Apples, Carrots & Onions
- Add cut apples, carrots, onions & garlic to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle olive oil over top until all pieces have a nice thin coating. Sprinkle with dried sage & thyme blend, salt & pepper to taste. Toss well.
- Reduce oven temp to 375°F (or preheat if squash was already made & you're using leftovers). Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Add seasoned apples, carrots, onions & garlic - space evenly. Bake 25 mins total, turning a 15 minute mark. Remove and let cool 5 mins.
Soup
- Bring broth + bay leaves to a boil in pot/dutch oven. Once squash, apples, carrots & onions have cooled enough to touch, remove skins from apples, garlic & squash (if you haven't done so already), add all veg/apples to a large mixing bowl. Blend with hand held immersion blender until mixture reaches desired texture and ingredients are nicely mixed.
- Add blended apple/veg ingredients to boiling broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low & let simmer about 10 mins. Remove bay leaves. Serve in soup bowls garnished with pumpkin seeds & sour cream. Pairs nicely with your Autumn Chicken Bake as a starter or your family's favourite artisan bread to make it a meal all it's own. Enjoy!
If you enjoy this recipe, tag us @House_of_Kerrs on Instagram or comment below! #LaCucinadiKerrs
We hope you enjoy these recipes and would love your feedback if you do – comment below or tag us on Instagram @House_of_Kerrs. We’ve already got snow in our forecast, so you bet we’ll be cooking up more comforting classics to share to get us all through the cold weather months. If you want a simple recipe to make for your homebound Halloween party, give our Sheet Pan S’mores a try – we made it with mini Reese’s cups, but you can add whatever your fave hallo-treats are!
Keep well, eat well,
Have to try the apple/squash soup. Looks yummy.