Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Yesterday I made a big batch of curried butternut squash soup. I used two small butternut squash.

Peel the squash then cut in half and scoop out the seeds and discard. Chop the squash into half inch pieces.

In a large stockpot saute one onion. When the onion is translucent add three minced clove of garlic and one inch of fresh ginger chopped fine and saute a bit longer.

Add the chopped squash to the pot and about 5 cups of water, enough to cover the squash.

I like to use fresh herbs from my garden in every recipe. This time I added fresh marjoram and thyme leaves.

Remember when I made fresh turmeric scalloped potatoes? Well I dehydrated the remaining turmeric and saved it. For this soup I added a teaspoon of the dried turmeric into the soup mix. It gives flavor and adds to the deep color of the soup. You may substitute commercial turmeric. I also added one teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, curry powder, and cinnamon and half a teaspoon of salt and pepper and two tablespoons of brown sugar.

Cook all the ingredients until the squash is very soft. Cool the soup then transfer the soup to a blender and whirl till it is smooth. Add mixture back into pot and warm up again and add in about 1/8 cup of half and half if mixture is too thick. Serve warm.

This soup is rich and creamy and a beautiful caramel brown color. (It almost looks like pumpkin pie mix doesn't it?) The soup takes about half an hour of prep and 45 minutes cooking time and makes about ten servings. Extra soup can be placed in containers and frozen for later. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.