Curried WInter Squash Soup

This week I made my first winter squash dish – readers may recall that I picked up a couple of squash from Public House Produce (link at the end of this post) on the Luray Farmers’ Market’s last day, early October. The squash I have on hand are in the second photo, the banana squash I used this time is the large one on the left.  I have several other dishes planned for future experiments.

 

My recipe originated with one I found in The Silver Palate Cookbook, I tinker with it some, but I’ve been making this soup for ten years or so based on this recipe. There is an Amazon link to the book at the end of the post also.

 

Three notes about the main experiments I did this time: I used banana squash instead of butternut, and I don’t put all the curry in at the same time. As far as types of squash go, besides the banana squash, which has a wonderful, papaya-esque color to it, I’ve also used acorn squash – of course, I have used butternut as the recipe calls for. To speed things up you can get pre-cooked butternut squash seasonally at Williams Sonoma.

 

I used a low sodium chicken stock this time. I considered vegetable stock, but I was short of time and the version they had at whole foods was fairly high in sodium, I thought. I have cooked the recipe both ways – chicken stock, or vegetable stock – many times. Also, I substituted a cup of white wine for the apple juice.

 

On the curry, since the spice has a strong taste, I recommend you add it later in the process, and incrementally, especially if you aren’t familiar with it. In the version I made this week I wanted a lighter flavor, but still with a little bite; I still probably only used about half the amount shown here in the recipe – I was using “hot madras” curry though.

 

That said, here is the recipe:

 

• 4 tablespoons sweet butter 
• 2 cups finely chopped yellow onions 
• 4 to 5 teaspoons curry powder 
• 2 medium-sized butternut squash (about 3 pounds) 
• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped 
• 3 cups chicken stock 
• 1 cup apple juice  
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 shredded unpeeled Granny Smith apple for garnish

 1. Melt the butter, add the onions and curry. Cook covered on low heat until tender – 20 – 25 minutes.

 2. Peel the squash, remove seeds and strings, and chop. Be prepared, peeling winter squash is the hardest part of the recipe.

 3. When the onions are ready, pout in the stock, add the squash and apples, and bring to a boil. Then take down to lower heat and simmer until all is tender – should be less than 30 minutes.

 4. Strain the soup and reserve the liquid. Process the solids in a blender or food processor, using some of the liquid, until smooth.

 5. Combine the processed soup with the reserved liquid, to the desired thickness/consistency.

 6. Salt and pepper to taste and heat through. Serve immediately, garnished if you like.

 

This recipe make four to six portions. Mary and I often freeze the leftovers. Especially this time, with the banana squash – we have quite a bit leftover!

Public House Produce link:  http://publichouseproduce.com/