Monday, January 24, 2011

Curried Butternut Squash Soup


One of my favorite things about winter (and it's a short list) is when butternut squash shows up in the markets. I serve it many different ways, but our recent favorite is this soup. Once you've wrestled the squash out of it's shell, you're done with the hard work. Change up the spices if you like, and then sit down to enjoy a soup that has absolutely no added cream or butter, yet tastes silky and rich. I like to top it with a dollop of fat free sour cream (or the real stuff, if that's what I have on hand). If you have some butter fried mushrooms, you can put a few of those in the bowl before you ladle in the soup. Butter fried mushrooms? That's another post.


Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Printer friendly recipe
1 butternut squash (approximately 3 pounds)
Olive oil spray
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel the butternut squash and slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the strings and seeds, then cut it into 1" cubes. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil spray, toss the squash on the pan and spray it with the olive oil spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the squash starts browning on some of the edges and it's tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they are limp but not brown. Add more olive oil if the pan gets dry or if the onions start getting very brown. When the onions soften add the curry, cinnamon and cayenne to the pan and heat, stirring, for 1-2 minutes to awaken the spices. Set aside until the squash is out of the oven.

In a blender or food processor, puree small batches of the squash with the onions and stock. Don't fill your machine more than 1/3 or 1/2 full when pureeing the vegetables and broth! Hot liquids expand and can cause nasty burns. Puree until smooth (or you can leave it chunky if you like). You may need to add extra stock if your blender is struggling with the squash, which is quite dense. Taste for seasoning and add salt or pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve. Makes 6-8 servings.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Butternut squash is one of my favorite things about this time of year too (snow too, but these sub-zero temps? Nope, not a fan.). Your soup looks perfect for winter!

Mary said...

This is one of my all-time favorite foods...squash, in any form....hooray for warm soup.....thumbs down to freezing cold weather. I took soup outside to photograph in natural light and it was freezing cold by the time I brought it in the house, two minutes later!

Sarah-Jane - SiliconeMoulds.com said...

oooh - I love butternut squash too. I do pretty much the same as you do, but instead of the curry paste / powder, I add a shed load of Thai curry paste and fresh chillies. I like it so hot it burns the skin off your mouth with both temperature and spices. Extreme stuff

Lovely to find your blog

Anonymous said...

May I have this luscious, silky soup first and then a whole pan of those blondies below for dessert? I just o happen to have a butternut squash sitting on my counter, and was just asked by my sig other yesterday "Are you going to do snything with this?". Talk about timing!! BTW...not a duck fan either, but the confit was great. Will make it with chicken from hereon in :)

Hanaâ said...

Sorry I have been away for so long. I can't believe how much I've missed. This soup looks wonderful. I love butternut squash.