Curried Butternut Apple Soup

I woke up to snow this morning. Snow on the ground equals soup in my house. This is a simple and yummy squash soup. It is good as a main dish, or would be great as an appetizer/side dish as well.

Last year, I made this soup and chopped up two medium sized butternut squash (which is a pain, by the way). I then washed my hands and realized that the skin was peeling off of my fingers, and they were all itchy. I had a bad reaction to the squash. Who would have guessed? So, this year, I baked the squash and scooped it out of it's shell. If you haven't done this, it's so easy. Just cut the top stem off of your squash, and then cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds. Line a cookie sheet with foil (do this please...squash leaves a yucky film on things when you bake it) and place your squash cut-side down. Pour about a cup of water in the pan, and bake it at 350 for about an hour or until it's soft. You can scoop the squash out and use it in this soup, or just as a side dish with some butter, salt and pepper. Easy. OR...you can buy a bag of pre-chopped, skinned and cleaned butternut squash at Costco. Easiest!

Okay, now get your other ingredients ready:

¼ C butter
2 C chopped onion (about 2 medium onions)
1 rib celery, chopped
2 ½ tsp. curry powder
2 medium butternut squash (about 2 1/2 – 3 lbs) peeled, seeded and cubed
3 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup apple cider or apple juice


In a heavy sauce pan, combine onion, celery, butter and curry powder. Cook over low heat until veggies are tender (10-15 minutes), stirring often. Add squash, apples and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until squash and apples are cooked thoroughly.

You need to strain a little bit of liquid off of the mixture once it's cooked. I do this by getting a big ladle or spoon and just skimming liquid off of the top, while trying to keep most of the ingredients still in the pot. Take off as much liquid as you can. Next, puree the apple-squash mixture with one cup of the strained liquid. You will probably need to do this in 3-4 batches in a blender. Don't over-stuff a blender with hot soup or it will pop the top off of your blender. Don't ask me how I know that. If you have a hand mixer, excellent. Stick that puppy into your pan and just blend. Add cider or juice to reach desired consistency. Garnish with grated apple, or chopped pear, yogurt or sour cream.

This is, of course, excellent in bread bowls. I'll post the bread bowl recipe soon!!