Recipe: Butternut Squash Curry Soup
I recently shared that we have a “helper” in our home — also known as Sarah. Really, Sarah started helping when Kennedy came into our life to help with various things around the home as Michael and I entered parenthood while maintaining time and space for our work and ourselves.
Little did I know, however, that Sarah is a mean cook. She whipped up this butternut curry soup while I was out of the house one evening, and I have dreamed about it since. Actually, I had her make it again for me — it’s that good!
Sarah was kind enough to write out this recipe, and wanted to note that: curry, like garlic, should be measured with your heart and not an actual unit of measurement. In other words, we like A LOT of curry, so we use a lot in our soup — but you should go based on your own heart’s desire!
This last time, we did green beans, cauliflower, kale, potatoes, squash… but feel free to add whatever veggies are in season or are tickling your fancy that day (or even none at all). Totally your call.
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I have lately!
xoxo
INGREDIENTS
1 medium to large butternut squash; halved, seeds removed
1 medium sweet potato; whole, washed
1 medium to large onion (I used yellow, but any kind will do); peeled, ends cut off, halved
1 medium to large Granny Smith apple; halved, cored, skin left on
3-5 large carrots; peeled, ends cut off
4-5 large garlic cloves; skins removed
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 – 13.5 ounce coconut cream
Thai curry paste
Tumeric
Assorted veggies; washed, peeled and chopped as necessary (I like to add rainbow carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes, green beans, and/or kale)
Optional toppings: coconut cream, sour cream/greek yogurt, cilantro, peanuts, roasted chickpeas
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 and line a large baking sheet or roasting pan with parchment paper.
Place the butternut squash (skin down), carrots, onion, apple (skin down), sweet potato and garlic on the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper. Place pan in oven and set timer for 20 min.
While your veggies are roasting, drizzle olive oil into a large pot. Please your assorted veggies into the pot and drizzle with more olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn on heat to medium and sauté veggies for 5-10 min. Turn off heat and cover. Set aside for later.
After 20 min of roasting, remove garlic and apples from pan and transfer to blender. Set timer for 20 min.
After 20 more minutes of roasting (40 min lapsed time), remove onion, carrots and sweet potato from pan. Transfer onion and carrots to blender and set sweet potato aside to cool. Set timer for 20 min. Once sweet potato is cool enough to handle, removed skins and transfer the meat of the potato to the blender (I like to cube it up a little before blending, so it’s not so hard on the blender). Discard the sweet potato skin (or eat it as a snack as you finish cooking).
After 20 more min of roasting (60 min lapsed time), check your butternut squash with a fork to see if it is tender. If ready, remove from oven and set aside to cool. If not, keep checking over 5 min until done. Once the butternut squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat of the squash and transfer to your blender. Discard the skins.
Add 1 to 2 cups of chicken stock (more, if needed) and thai curry paste (starting with 2 tablespoons and adding more to taste) to your blender and puree until smooth. (See Notes regarding blending recommendations)
Transfer blended soup to your pot with sautéed veggies. Add coconut cream and more chicken stock to reach your desired soup thickness. Add more curry paste, if desired, and a sprinkle of turmeric. Turn on heat to low to medium and cook everything together for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Serve soup with a topping, a slice of rustic bread, or by itself and ENJOY!
Note: Leftover soup will keep in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.