Curried Butternut Soup

This is a strange, but true story.  I won a cooking contest.  Yep.  I know, so hard to believe!  And Curried Butternut Soup was the winning entry.

Here’s the backstory.  I worked in the Surgery Department for a large hospital and for some reason OR, Same Day Surgery and Endoscopy all got together and put on a huge cooking contest judged by a few employees.  Of whom I was not one.  Just so you know.

It was also a potluck, so I thought a crockpot of soup would be nice to bring.  I’d never made the recipe before, but I found it in my Cooking Light issue that month. 

That magazine made such an impact on me over the years, and I really miss it.  In fact, I miss that quality of all magazines these days.  Not what they used to be.

I’m not really much of a competitor.  In anything.  So winning wasn’t on my radar.  I was just contributing to the fun. Trust me, there were dozens of entries including beautiful desserts. I just brought a simple soup.

And then.  I won!  I think I might have won a prize too, but since it was 20 years ago, I really cannot remember.

So for 20 years now, I’ve been making this soup in various iterations and this week, I made a smallish batch and want to share it with you.

This recipe is easily doubled, but I made enough for a couple of meals.

As with any soup, the second day tastes better than the first.

There are many simple ways to cook a butternut squash that doesn’t involve a sharp knife and that tough skin.  The simplest would be to purchase peeled and diced in a bag from the produce department.  Which might be kind of expensive.

My preferred method is to put the entire squash in a crockpot with a cup of water and cook on low for a few hours until its soft when pierced.  I can then easily peel off the hard outer shell and scoop out the seeds.

One other note, curry does stain.  Whatever is used might carry a little yellow tint for the next couple of uses.  It’s ok.  Enjoy the yellow.  Well, that’s what I do.

Curried Butternut Soup

• 1 butternut squash, cooked and cubed
• ½ Tablespoon butter
• 1 peeled and chopped apple (Granny Smith works well, but use what you have)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 stalk chopped celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• Pinch of cayenne (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups chicken broth or bullion

Melt butter in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add apple, onion, celery and bay leaf.  Sauté 10 minutes.  Stir in spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add squash and broth, stir well.

Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.  Discard bay leaf and partially mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender until thick and chunky.

Note:  I like this soup a little less chunky so I blended quite a lot.

This soup is easy to make, uses no crazy ingredients and is SO much better than anything from a can.  Please consider making it and let me know what you think.