Butternut Squash Soup

Yesterday, I finally used the two butternut squashes that have been staring me in the face for at least a few weeks now. It was the thought of peeling those things that kept me from using them sooner. They aren't hard to peel, they are just one of those vegetables that doesn't rot quickly and therefore are easy to procrastinate about! With that said, make sure you use a sharp knife when peeling them.

The basis for this soup comes from the Barefoot Contessa's Parties Cookbook. She mentions that she got her idea from "The Silver Palate Cookbook". The biggest change I made to the Barefoot Contessa's recipe was to not include apple juice or apple cider and cutting the amount of apples down. I think the soup would be too sweet but that is just my taste. I also considered throwing in some chicken stock instead of the water but I wanted to have a strictly vegetarian soup and if you leave out the butter, it is actually a vegan soup.

This soup had me swooning in the kitchen after I pureed it and started to heat it up for dinner. The curry powder transformed the soup into a spicy, sort of, pumpkin pie flavour. No wonder I loved it!

Butternut Squash Soup

2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
4 c. chopped onions (I used 2 red onions and about 8 shallots. I was out of yellow onions.)
2 T. mild curry powder
5 lbs butternut squash (2 large)
2 large cooking apples (mutsu are what I used)
2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper
Water

1. Warm the butter and olive oil in a large stockpot over low heat. Add the onions and curry powder and cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, making sure the onions don't stick to the bottom of the pot.
2. Peel the squash, remove the seeds, and cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples.
3. Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Puree the soup in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
4. Pour the soup back into the pot. Add enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; I like it quite thick and I added about 2 cups of water. Check for seasoning and serve hot.