Winter is being downright disrespectful. (Make soup – Spiced Butternut Squash Soup.) Seriously, WHY must it be so darn cold? (Go make this soup.) Can someone please tell me the point of these 10 ridiculous degrees? (The soup!) For me, the only upside to winter, the most delicious silver lining, is warming up with a big bowl of soup – Spiced Butternut Squash Soup.
Soup for You and You and You…
I love all kinds of soup, as evidenced by this, this and another favorite, this. Vegetable soups were some of the first things I learned to make in culinary school and at the time it seemed like overkill. Day after day after day stuck in soup purgatory – mushroom soup, cauliflower soup, broccoli soup, all kinds of soup. We literally made All. The. Soups. Looking back it’s clear to me why those first few weeks were focused on soup. Those recipes are chock full of the basic cooking techniques you need to master more complicated recipes – knife skills, sweating vegetables, stirring occasionally, deglazing, perfecting the simmer and seasoning to taste.
Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash is one of those soups I learned during soup purgatory. It’s good. Really good on its own, but toss in a little cumin, turmeric and paprika and it’s divine and completely unexpected. The squash itself can be pretty sweet when it’s cooked and the spices give it a warmth and contrasting flavor that make you feel like you’ve never tasted butternut squash before. Get this soup on your stove right away and put winter in its place, your bowl.
TIPS:
You can save time by buying butternut squash already cubed from your grocery store’s produce section.
Make sure the squash is fork tender before blending. If you blend too soon, your soup will be grainy, not smooth.
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Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add squash, onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash begins to soften, 7-10 minutes.
- Stir in cumin, turmeric and paprika and cook until you can smell the spices, about a minute.
- Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat until soup simmers.
- Cover and simmer until squash is fork tender, 10-12 minutes. Carefully ladle soup into blender and process until smooth.
- Return soup to pot on medium heat and stir in cream or half-and-half. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls.
- Garnish with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche and serve.
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