For this roasted butternut-squash soup, Derek Clayton, the corporate chef at Michael Symon's Lola in Cleveland, brings out the squash's inherent sweetness with maple syrup. But he wisely prevents it from becoming cloying by adding a wallop of jalapeño. Although the brightly colored and flavored soup is brilliant on its own, Clayton's garnishes are an especially fine finish. He tosses toasted squash seeds in a mixture of butter, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and salt before sprinkling them over the soup along with cilantro and crisp apple.

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