Recipe - Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I was fighting off a cold this weekend and nothing I had in the fridge sounded very good. It was rainy and cool and I wanted soup. Spicy soup that I'd be able to taste in spite of a stuffy nose. I had a couple of butternut squash that I had picked up at the farmer's market, and a jar of Thai red curry paste that's sat unopened in my pantry for years. Put them together and I had a very tasty soup - perfect for a chilly day and a stuffy head. And I even took notes on how I made it!

3-4 lbs. butternut squash
2-3 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 onion - chopped
1 carrot - chopped
1 apple - peeled, cored and chopped
2 heaping teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 qt. vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
heavy cream
chopped fresh chives

Roast the butternut squash however you like. I like to peel it, scoop out the seeds and chop it all up, toss the cubes in olive oil and a bit of salt and roast at 400 degrees until it's tender. I know some people like to cut the whole squash in half, scoop out the seeds, brush it with olive oil and roast cut-side down until it's tender. As long as the squash comes out soft (and slightly caramelized in places) you're good.

Heat 1 T olive oil and the butter in your soup pot. Saute the onion, carrot and apple with some salt until soft - about 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and stir it all together - maybe another couple of minutes on the heat. Add the broth, the squash, and the bay leaves. Reduce heat and let it simmer for about an hour. Remove the bay leaves and then puree the soup. I use an immersion blender. Please don't forget to remove the bay leaves first - when you puree them in the soup you get some really unpleasant hard leafy bits and then you have to spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to pick them out of the soup - not that I did that or anything. :-)

When you're ready to serve finish it off with a little heavy cream and top with chopped chives. I add the cream in the bowl instead of in the pot so I can save the leftovers without cream - I like it added fresh right at the very end.

I ate this with some of this English Muffin Toasting Bread. Yummy!

Pottery footnote. . .
That bowl? It's poorly photographed, but it's my very favorite bowl. Michael Kline made it and it's the perfect size and shape for holding in my hand while I eat. He calls this shape breakfast cups and they're just right for a bowl of granola - but I use them most often for soup. Mmmmm. . . soup. Nothing beats homemade soup eaten from a handmade bowl. . .