Curried Butternut Squash Soup

My friend, Megan, introduced me to this soup a few weeks ago. She wasn't feeling well and said she was going to make this soup. I assumed, since it was 10:00 in the morning, she meant she'd make the soup for dinner. Nope. She meant for lunch, and before I left her house, she was chopping butternut squash. I'm not sure why it had never occurred to me to cook something special, just for yourself for lunch. But, it did. What a beautiful idea!

Later that day she dropped off a bowl of this amazing butternut squash and curry soup. (She also brought a box of Cutler's Cookies, which I'll write about later. I mean, if someone brings you cookies and they are so big that they come in a small pizza box, that is worth writing about.) Back to the soup- it was heavenly. Smooth, a little bit spicy from the curry, and warm enough to make my nose run, this soup was the about the most perfect part of my day (apart from the cookies). I knew I had to make it again.

Serendipitously, I found a butternut squash in the ugly bin at the grocery store for only $.99! My sister-in-law had just had a baby so, I doubled the recipe and the soup for her. It was awesome again, and so easy to make. Butternut squash is so beautiful, and it smelled divine as it simmered on my stove. I made the soup in the morning because I had a lunch date with Alicia and I wanted to share some Curried Butternut Squash soup with her before I took the rest to the new mommy.

All was going well, until...

After cooking the squash on the stove with onions, ginger, curry and chicken broth, you are supposed to use an immersion blender to mash everything up- turn it into soup. With an immersion blender, that is a simple step. I don't have one. (Maybe Santa will bring me one this year if I'm very good). No biggie. I would just blend the soup in my blender, but in small portions of course so that I didn't make a mess. I also decided to cover the mouth of the blender with a small plate instead of the lid because I didn't want to make a mess and have soup come shooting out of the hole of the lid.

Have you ever seen curried butternut squash soup explode out of a blender before? Have you ever felt hot flavorful broth do a Shamu splash all over your arms and yoga pants? Kind of magnificent! Kind of disastrous. Important tip: Make sure if you are blending hot soup in your blender, you don't use a plate instead of the vented blender lid, unless you like scrubbing orange, curry-scented, squash pulp from your cream colored kitchen cabinets, black refrigerator, and hardwood floors. You've been warned.

It was at this opportune moment that Alicia arrived, bearing gifts of cookies, Chex mix, and Noosa Pumpkin Yogurt. Good thing we are good friends. Her response to my Curried Butternut Squash Soup mess? "Well, you vented the top, right?"

Friends don't let friends explode soup from their blenders, so, friends, learn from my mistake. Be sure to vent the lid of your blender when mixing hot soup.  Also, and most importantly, make this Curried Butternut Squash Soup. 

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Adapted slightly from Ellie Krieger

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tbs minced garlic
• 2 1/2 lbs butternut squash, chopped into 1" cubes, about 3 1/2 cups
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbs plus 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft, but not brown, about 6 minutes.
2. Add butternut squash, broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with additional salt to taste.
4. Serve immediately. Top with plain yogurt if desired. 

Bake the bread. Share the slices.