It has been a miserably rainy day here in the midatlantic…so what better way to warm up than with a bowl of soup?
I had some leftover butternut squash from the gnocchi I made this past weekend, so I decided to use it in a basic soup recipe with my own touches. The beauty of butternut squash soup is that it lends itself so easily to tweaks and adjustments, feel free to experiment yourself with the seasoning and consistency. Below is just the combination I prefer.
Since I was using leftover squash, I had kind of an odd amount left; the good thing is it is not difficult to adjust the amounts of other ingredients by taste depending on what you have on hand. It is not necessary to strictly follow the amounts I have written down below.
Ingredients
3 cups or about 1.5 medium-sized butternut squash, microwaved, de-seeded and peeled
1/2 cup coarsely chopped tomato
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
About 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock. Add more if you like a thinner consistency
1-2 tablespoons curry powder*
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat oil in a large pot. I used ghee and sprinkled some cumin seeds in as well. Cook the onion and garlic until translucent, add the tomato and cook until it starts to “wilt.” Add the squash and the stock, cook until simmering, and puree.
I like to use an immersion blender for this as it cuts down on the mess. I have this one and for $30, it is a worthwhile investment. If you do not have one, just just transfer to a food processor or blender and then return to the pot.
Season with curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. I ended up using just a little more than a tablespoon of curry powder and a teaspoon of salt and pepper.
Simmer for about 30 minutes.
Garnish with some smoked gouda and enjoy! It’s that easy!
* Curry seasoning
I prefer not to use pre-mixed curry seasoning as you have no idea the quality or age of the ingredients used. It is easy to make your own. Note that “curry powder” does not denote any particular combination of spices, but here is what I used:
1T toasted cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
4-5 cardamon pods
1t coriander seeds
toast on a dry skillet and grind in a coffee grinder. Add 1t turmeric, 1t ginger powder and 1/2t cayenne (more if you want it hotter). This yielded enough to use in several separate recipes.
-R
Bounteous 