Butternut Squash Soup with Curry

The first time I tasted this soup was at my friend Joyce’s house. She had made it for lunch & I fell in love with it. Smooth & sweet with a bit of spice, it is really wonderful.

I have used frozen cubed or fresh pre-cubed butternut to make this soup which cuts down on the prep time. This time I bought fresh butternut squash at my Costco store, there were 2 in a net, each one about 2 lbs, so I bought them. Peeling the butternut squash was always annoying, but I just bought a new vegetable peeler that worked great … but there are many tips on how to peel butternut squash… the most popular one I can see online is to cut the ends off, slit the butternut in a few places & than microwave the squash for about 3 minutes, let cool then take the peel off … So, if you can find it pre-cut or frozen it just cuts down the amount of work you have to do.

This soup can be garnished with some homemade croutons. I didn’t make them this time but have included the recipe.

I use an Immersion Blender to puree this soup. Here is an affiliate link for an Immersion Blender on Amazon.ca

Here is the recipe for this delicious soup

Ingredients

Soup

1 leek

2 med sized carrots

1 medium-sized onion

1 tsp curry powder

1 1/2 tsp sugar

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash

4 cups vegetable stock or water

salt & pepper to taste

OPTIONAL; cream to swirl on the soup

Croutons for Garnish *** I did not make these but have in the past & they are relish!

1/2 french bread

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 t cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Prepare the leek, cut the thick green part of the leek off. Wash & slice the white part of the leek, set aside
2. Peel & wash the carrots & coarsely chop them, set aside
3. Peel & dice the onion, set aside
4. Using a saucepan, put the oil in & heat it up a bit
5. Sauce the leek, carrots, onion, curry powder & sugar until the vegetables are soft. Stir often so the vegetables don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan & they are all coated with the curry powder & sugar
6. Meanwhile, peel & cube the butternut squash
7. Add the prepared butternut squash to the saucepan
8. As\dd the vegetable stock or water & mix well
9. Cook until the butternut & all the vegetables are cooked & soft
10. When the soup is cooked, puree it using a hand blender, blender or food processor
11. Garnish with a swirl of cream if you would like

Make the croutons  *** This can be done ahead of time so they are ready to serve with the soup

1. Cut the french bread into 3/4″ cubes (about 6 cups)
2. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil, cinnamon & slat
3. Bake on a baking sheet until golden brown approximately 10 – 12 minutes

Serve a few croutons on top of the soup in the middle of the soup bowl….

Enjoy!

NOTE:  somehow I didn’t take pictures of this recipe while the soup was cooking    OOPS!