Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Curry

Butternut squash soup is one of my favourite things.  I love it, I could (and have) eaten it every day for lunch.  When we were living in Ontario, I went to Panera Bread for lunch way too often and they had an incredible Autumn Squash soup that I've been trying to recreate since the first day I tried it.

This soup isn't as sweet as Panera's but it's got a great, complex flavour and is a little more 'grown up'.

I started with this recipe from Little Spice Jar, but tweaked it a little.

This recipe calls for minced garlic and grated ginger - for both of these I used my Pamperd Chef Microplane grater.  I haven't found anything better yet. I love it!


Butternut Squash Soup with Apples & Curry

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

2-2.5 pounds butternut squash, chunked (**See notes)
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 granny smith apples, diced
2 carrots, chunked (or 2 handfuls of baby carrots)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon curry powder (more or less to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups stock (Chicken or Vegetable)
1/2 Cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients (except cream) to a 7-8 quart dutch oven. I used the Pampered Chef Rock Crock - this thing is super easy to clean and does a great job,

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer.
3. Let simmer for 2 hours or until everything is tender (it won't look pretty at this stage, but it'll smell amazing!

4. Pour soup into blender, if it's still hot make sure that the cover isn't on tight or that the vent is open.  Blend until smooth covering the hole/opening at the top with a towel (trust me - if you don't, there will be a BIG mess!) I used my Ninja, if you have one of these, you'll know it won't operate unless the lid is on.  I just opened the pour spout and covered with a towel to make sure I didn't make a huge mess everywhere and that the top didn't burst!
5. Add cream and blend until combined.

6. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

**NOTES

1. I cheat on the squash.  I buy it pre-cubed in the freezer section at Costco.  I've nearly lost a finger too many times trying to cut those suckers, this just makes too much sense.

2. You could also make this in the slow cooker, 4-6 hours on High or 7-8 on Low