Ah squash. Who doesn’t love squash? It’s such a creamy and comforting food, packed with nutrition. Seasonally, it’s a fall/winter crop and clearly, it was created to fill our bellies and warm our hearts during the blistering cold months of winter. Winter is coming, so stock up on squash and experiment in the kitchen. As a Florida native transplanted in Illinois, this will be my first REAL winter, so you can count on seeing many warm and comforting recipes in the near future.
Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Serves ~6
This soup is outrageously velvety and it uses no cream to do it. It is simply squash, broth, vegetables and spices. Topped with roasted squash seeds, scallion, cilantro and some leftover croutons from one of this week’s posts, this soup will no doubt warm your heart and fill your belly. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
1 butternut squash, peeled, pulp and seeds removed (save and roast the seeds!) and chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth (or 3 cups water plus 1 TBS of vegetable base or 1 bouillon cube)
1/2 cup white wine
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS curry powder
2 tsp cayenne powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 pinch of Saffron (optional)
Salt to taste
Garnish: Homemade croutons, Scallion, Cilantro and squash seeds
*For the squash seeds: separate them from the pulp and place on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzled with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. These are truly a squash’s tiny treasure - don’t miss out!
- Heat oil in large soup pot and saute onion, garlic and squash for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Lightly season with salt.
- Add wine and scrape up the burnt/charred bits off the bottom of the pan (aka: deglaze). Simmer for about 3 minutes more.
- Add the stock and spices and cook until squash is soft and your kitchen is fragrant with a wonderful aroma of spices. Let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Taste every now and then to see if more salt is needed.
- Turn heat off and use an emulsion blender to puree the soup. Likewise, you could add the soup into a blender and puree.
- Serve into bowls and top with croutons, squash seeds, cilantro and scallion.
Nutrition per 1 cup serving: 132 calories, 1.7g fat, 25g carbohydrates, 7g fiber, 3.5g protein.
This soup is also an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, Vitamin C and manganese.
I love to hear from you! How do you like to prepare your butternut squash?
