For this Meatless Monday, I borrowed a recipe from a friend's mother, so really I should call this Mama Russell's Rustic Curried Butternut Squash Soup. I did tweak a bit here and there; alas it is a bit of a collaboration. This recipe is wonderfully simple, although there is a good deal of chopping. The great thing about a "rustic" soup, however, is that the roughess of the chop makes it more beautiful and tasty.
I peeled and seeded one large butternut squash - about 1 1/2 lbs. The squash was cubed and gently steamed until tender, about 20 minutes. The squash could also be roasted to give additional depth and flavor, although this would take a bit longer and required heating up the oven. So the steaming is simple, more energy efficient, and keeps a clean pure taste in the squash. I then pureed the squash and set aside.
In the meantime, I melted some butter in a stock pot and added 2 teaspoons curry powder (I tried with both a West Indian and Spicy Indian blend - use your favorite and experiment!)and 1 teaspoon cumin. Cook this briefly - 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add 1 cup finely chopped red onion (Mama Russell does not specify type of onion), 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger, 1 large apple roughly chopped (granny smith, gala, honey crisp all work well) and 1 clove of garlic. Sautee about five minutes, or until soft.
Once the rustic items are ready, add the pureed squash and 2-4 cups of chicken broth depending on desired thickness. For a main dish, I used only about 2, although when I made it with 4 cups, it was a lovely accompaniment to a larger meal. The final touch is about 1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk (another departure from Mama Russell's recommendation of cream).
Served with bread and a green salad, this made a lovely fall meal and was even better the next day. I made this several times straight out of the pantry since I like to keep the fresh ingredients on hand generally. I will absolutely keep this recipe on hand for rainy weekends when I don't want to leave the house for a shop.