Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Curry Butternut Squash Soup

(taken from Cooks.com, with minor changes)

Happy Autumn, Ramona readers! I am so excited by this season, with the cooler temps, Apple Days in Julian, fires in the fireplace, Halloween, all of it! Not quite cool enough to plant lettuces and broccoli yet, or other fall crops, but almost! One of my favorite things about cooler weather is soup. And this is a great time for butternut squash, my favorite soup in the world. After trying a few different recipes, this is the one I love the most, and the one I now make for my family. And so easy, once you realize what a simple soup this is, I’ll bet you’ll make it often too.

Ingredients List:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 onion, minced ( I am using 2 small ones today)
• 1 tsp butter or oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp curry powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) cayenne- dash or 2

Peel and cut squash in half. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp (Wait! Don’t throw those seeds away, read note after recipe). Cut into chunks. In water, boil squash and onion about 25 minutes. I have a 2 ½ quart Pyrex bowl, that I now transfer it all into, then into the blender with a ladle, about 1/3 of it at a time or so, and puree. At this point I might add a tad of chicken broth to thin a bit, then back in the pot. The reason I transfer it first into a pyrex bowl, then the blender, is that I need to puree it in 3 batches, and as I finish each batch I return it to the pot. So now put it back on stove and add rest of ingredients. Simmer until heated through. Note on chicken broth/water: The amounts really depend on the size of the squash. I don’t measure anymore. Just add more broth or water if it seems too thick.

That’s it! This will make between 2-3 quarts depending on how thick you like it. I used to buy cartons of butternut soup at the grocery store, now I always make my own. It’s one of our favorite soups to have with sandwiches, besides homemade mushroom and homemade tomato- those recipes coming soon!

Note on seeds: I rinse the seeds free of pulp, in a small strainer, and spread them out on a plate to dry for a few days. If you use a paper plate, they will try to glue themselves onto it, so you will have to keep moving them around as they dry. I use a dinner plate after that one time I ended up with a paper plate with glued on seeds that looked like a preschool project. But I digress.

You can save these seeds for next year’s garden, OR you can bake the seeds and eat them. If you choose to bake them, after rinsing and removing pulp, place in a bowl with a small amount (1 tbsp or less) of olive oil and a little salt sprinkled in, and mix that up and spread them on a cookie sheet. Place in a 275 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes or so until they begin to pop. Let cool and enjoy!

Enjoy, and tell me what you think!