It was not long ago when I first made this soup. If you follow me on facebook you would recall a status update that read something like “ARGH!!!” I had the hardest time peeling the skin off the butternut squash. I used almost every sharp utensil in the kitchen to skin the bastard and I barely scratched the surface. I even beckoned Pizzaboy for help. We stood at the kitchen bench for almost an hour trying to cut away the tough outer layer and chop the flesh. Although the soup tasted very nice – albeit thin because i had cut quite a bit of flesh away with the skin and ended up with less than what the recipe called for – I declared I would never do it again.
I told my mother about our ordeal and she let out a chuckle.
“You are silly. You did not boil the squash for 10 minutes first to soften it?”
“No.”
“Next time boil it. Let it cool and then cut it.”
Now that the weather has dropped considerably and I’ve been kept captive in the house due to excessive rain in Sydney. I caved in and decided to give this another go. I followed mum’s instructions and it worked a dream. The skin peeled away with a normal peeler and I didn’t need to summon the boy for help.
Lesson to be learned – Mother knows best.
Recipe adapted from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1kg butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
6 cups low-salt chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons honey
yogurt or sour cream for garnish
Method
1/ Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot
2/ Add onions and garlic. Saute until soft but not brown, about 6 to 7 minutes
3/ Add the butternut squash, broth, curry powder and salt and bring to a boil
4/ Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 12 to 15 minutes
5/ Remove from heat stir in honey and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until smooth.
6/ Season with salt, to taste.
7/ Ladle into serving bowls and add a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.
Tips from the cookbookmaniac
* Boil the butternut squash for about 10 minutes to soften the skin before peeling. I found some really helpful instructions on how to cut it here.
* The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons of curry powder. I used Keens Curry Powder and found that 1 tablespoon was more than enough.
Comments
Mark @ Cafe Campana
June 9, 2010 at 9:18 pmI cooked a soup similar to this yesterday. It was good. I like the addition of curry powder and honey.
Barbara
June 10, 2010 at 1:35 amI’m not quite in the butternut squash soup frame of mind right now, but I love this recipe. Bookmarking it!
Maria
June 10, 2010 at 4:41 amI love this soup! I make a huge amount of vegetable soup with pumpkin almost every week, but I definitely want to try this recipe next time 🙂
Kitchen Butterfly
June 10, 2010 at 6:05 amIt looks gorgeous. I made a trio of stuff with butternut squash last week but I cut it in half, using a serated knife and then roasted it. Once it was done, I scooped out the insides and blitzed it up. Some went on pasta with maple butter, some went in a risotto with morels and some went to make a soup!
MaryMoh
June 10, 2010 at 8:36 amMmmm….that looks very delicious. My children love this type of soup to eat with bread.
Lisa @ bakebikeblog
June 10, 2010 at 9:20 amMy oh my – what a perfect winter soup! Thankyou for sharing!
Oh and what an interesting tip re peeling the skin off – brilliant!
Erica
June 10, 2010 at 11:20 amOh my. This soup has my name all over it!What a beautiful color.Beautiful flavors.
angie
June 10, 2010 at 2:16 pmOh honey hey? Sounds good. But what’s so hard about peeling butternut pumpkin? =p I use mum’s cleaver and just cut the pumpkin up into manageable wedges and then slice the skin away, definately easier to handle than the other pumpkin varieties.
Richard Elliot
June 10, 2010 at 3:37 pmButternut Squash a fantastic ingredient. I haven’t tried to boil for 10mins first before, I’ll have to try that!
One of the best dishes I ate last year was a squash curry at an Indian restuarant in Cairns. Oh, how I wish I’d asked for the recipe…
tigerfish
June 10, 2010 at 6:24 pmSuch a smooth consistency in your butternut squash soup 🙂
cityhippyfarmgirl
June 11, 2010 at 6:56 amWhat gorgeous pictures- makes me want to eat it now. (You are right mother does know best.) I make a similar soup, and love whacking a bit of curry powder in to liven it up.
grace
June 14, 2010 at 3:46 ambutternut squash is meant for soup, and that’s all there is to it. beautiful work, amy! and yes, mothers know best. always. 🙂
carswell
June 15, 2010 at 3:11 amEven easier than boiling and peeling the squash is roasting it first – then scooping it out of the shells.
The squash gets a nice carmelized flavour from the roasting that enhances the sweetness and depth.
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
June 15, 2010 at 9:33 pmwhat a great tip from your mum!! I didnt know that, I just cut it up into tiny cubes then cut off the skin, but your mums tip is much easier!!
Great soup by the way, perfect for the snap freeze we’re experience, I dont care what anybody says, its cold!!
lisa
June 21, 2010 at 2:47 amThis soup look beautiful and delicious! I’m going to save this recipe for the cooler months. I love butternut soup in the fall and this will be a perfect healthy recipe to try.
clearlytangled
July 21, 2010 at 10:30 pmi make a butternut squash soup that is similar- it has some corn purreed into it. too bad it is wayyy too hot to be having curry butternut squash soup in houston right now.