curried SQUASH soup

I love squash. I am not particularly in love with it’s name though, SquwASH. Maybe it’s my Midwestern accent, when I say it out loud it sounds so, so, um squwAshy and harsh. Like I am hitting a bug or something. Maybe I should become part of the “new word” movement and think of a better word for squash. Got any good ideas?

I always roast squash. Then I puree it, which is a favorite side dish at Thanksgiving time for our family or sometimes I just eat it smack dab off the pan. For lunch. It never even makes it to my family. Lots of butter, and salt and pepper. MMMmmm heavenly. This is how I roast squash.

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then cut it in half, scoop out the seeds…as in the above photo.

Then I chop it in to big chunks.

and I cut or peel the skin off. Cut it into smaller chunks and drizzle with olive oil.

Salt and pepper.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Voila! Roasted squash, you can do this a few days ahead of time, store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Now if you want to make Curried Squash Soup out of those delicious roasted morsels you can proceed to the second half of this post. But if you just lost control and ate all that squash…well then….you have two choices 1. start over with your squash roasting or 2. go take a nap and sleep it off.

-Blend until smooth. Pour back in to the pan that you sauteed the onions in.

-Take a cup of the chicken stock and pour it in the blender, give blender a whirl…this will help you get all of the squash puree out to of the blender, you don’t want to be washing any of that wonderful goodness down the drain.

-Pour that in pan. Now add the remaining stock. It really depend on how thick you want the soup.

-Add salt and pepper to taste.

-Let simmer for aproximately 5 minutes and serve.

Once every three months my husband has a board meeting at our home and I fix the members lunch. This is what I served to them this time, along with my Roasted Tomato Basil Soup a crusty baguette, and my Pumpkin Donut Muffins. I made both soups the night before, stored them in the refrigerator and reheated them in crock pots the next day. The Squash Soup was gone…gone, all gone. I did scrap some out of the bottom of the crock pot for a few bites….I think they liked it.