Curried Squash Soup

Submitted by nunzio04 on February 23, 2010 - 3:30pm

Summary

Yield
Sourcewww.simplyrecipes.com
Prep Time1 1/2 hours
CategorySoups

Description

   

Ingredients

  • 6 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
  • olive oil, divided
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp yellow curry powder
  • 1 tsp whole mustard seeds
  • 1 pinch ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (can substitute plain yogurt)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 pinch salt to taste

Instructions

Method

1 Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, thick-bottomed stock pot on medium heat. Add a dab of butter to the olive oil. Working in two batches so as not to crowd the pan, add the cubed butternut squash to the pan. Toss to coat all sides with oil. Sprinkle a little salt over the squash. Then spread out in an even layer and let cook, stirring only occasionally, so that the edges and sides get lightly browned. You may need to adjust the heat up to ensure browning, or down to prevent burning or drying out. Add more oil and butter for the additional batches. Remove from pan and set aside.

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2 Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in the pot, on medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring now and then, until softened. Add the curry powder, mustard seeds, cumin, and fresh ginger, and cook for a minute or so longer. Use a flat bottomed wooden or metal spatula to scrape up any browned bits.

3 Return the butternut squash to the pot. Add the chicken stock and a teaspoon of salt. Increase the heat to bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer, cover the pot. Cook for 40 minutes until squash is completely tender. Use an immersion blender (or a stand up blender in which case work in batches) to blend the soup smooth. Add more salt to taste if needed.

Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped cilantro.

 

Notes

Subsitutions:

For whole mustard,  you substitute ground mustard, only use 1/4 teaspoon

For sour cream, you can substitute plain yogurt

For chopped fresh cilantro, you can substitute parsley

 

How to cut and peel a Butternut Squash

www.simplyrecipes.com

Keep squash pieces as stable as possible while cutting. A rubber mallet can help, if you have one, to gently push the knife through difficult thick spots. Using a very sharp vegetable peeler, one with a carbon steel blade, will help with the peeling.

Ingredients

  • One butternut squash, 1 1/2 to 3 pounds
  • A sharp, heavy, chef's knife

Method

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1 Using a heavy, sharpened chef's knife, cut off about 1/4-inch from the bottom of the squash in an even slice. Then cut off 1/4-inch from the stem end.

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2 Holding the squash in one hand, use a sharp vegetable peeler in the other hand to peel off the outer layer of the squash. You can also secure the squash standing upright and peel it in downward strokes with the peeler. Stand the peeled squash upright on a cutting board. It shouldn't wobble, you want the squash to be stable. (If it is wobbly, make another cut at the bottom to even it out.) Make one long cut, down the middle from the top to bottom, with a heavy chef's knife. Some squashes can be pretty hard; to help with the cutting you can use a rubber mallet to gently tap on the ends of the knife to help push the knife down through the squash.

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3 Use a metal spoon to scrape out the seeds and the stringy pulp from the squash cavity. (If you want, you can prepare the seeds like toasted pumpkin seeds.)

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4 Lay the squash halves, cut side down on the cutting board for stability. Working section at a time, cut the squash into slices, lengthwise, the desired width of your squash pieces. Some recipes call for 1/2-inch slices or cubes, some for 1-inch or greater.

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5 If you are cubing the squash, lay the slices down (you can stack a few at a time) and make another set of lengthwise cuts. Then make crosswise cuts to make cubes.

One 1 1/2 pound butternut squash will yield approximately 4 cups of 1/2-inch cubed squash.

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