Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I finally picked up a whole butternut squash last week.  I have been avoiding them given fears that I wouldn’t be able to properly cut and prepare it, and until last week, I had purchased pre-peeled and cubed squash or frozen mashed squash.  Anyway, I picked up this large squash, which must have weighed about 5 pounds, and looked up ways to cut it.  Alana at Veggie Venture has a great tutorial on how to cut a butternut squash.  I cheated a bit and poked the squash (like you would a potato), microwaved for 5 minutes, then let it sit for about two minutes before cutting. I then proceeded to cut in half and peel.  It was time consuming, but the large squash yielded a huge bag of squash cubes, which I prepared for 3 separate meals. For one meal, I microwaved the bulb part of the squash, scraped it out of the shell and mashed it with butter. For part of the cubes, I roasted them with olive oil and chili powder. But my favorite preparation was curried squash soup.  The curry powder added a nice warm taste, to a sweet and savory soup:

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t curry powder
dash red pepper
4 cups butternut squash cubes
3 cups chicken stock

In a medium sized soup pot, saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until soft and translucent.  Add the curry powder and red pepper and saute to toast the spices, about 2 minutes.  Add the butternut squash cubes and let them brown slightly on the edges and become coated with curry flavor.  Pour the chicken stock over the squash and bring to a boil.  Cover, lower to a simmer and let cook for 20-25 minutes until squash is completely soft.  Puree with a blender or immersion blender (or food processor) until fairly smooth.  Serve with a dollop of yogurt or a drizzle of coconut milk if desired.

shared at Pennywise Platter, Food Renegade, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday