The Best Thing to Do with a Butternut Squash

If anyone knows how to photograph pureed soups, please share.

I have this really strange habit of buying butternut squash. Don’t get me wrong, I like a nice squash, but for some reason I feel compelled to buy one every time I go to a supermarket. It’s hard to keep up with cooking that much squash. I mean, really, how many times a week can you roast little cubes of squash?

Last week, I was forced to get creative. The Husband had a colleague coming over for dinner, which ordinarily would have been no big deal. Except that on this particular afternoon, I was going to be at a late appointment that would give me approximately zero time to prep a meal when I got home.

And so, as usual, necessity once again becomes the mother of invention.

I did the first wave of cooking — the first 25 minutes — at lunchtime. I finished it off when I got home, with no obvious ill effects.

Curried Butternut Soup

Print recipe

Serves	8
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	1 hour
Meal type	Soup
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot

This curried butternut squash soup is easy to make, and is perfect for a holiday meal where you want to pre-prepare as much as possible and finish things quickly.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash (cubed)
2 cans light coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
1 " ginger root (grated)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt (to taste)

Directions

Step 1
In a large pot, combine squash, coconut milk, chicken stock and ginger. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer.
Step 2
Cook until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. (At this point, I set it aside for several hours and went about my day.)
Step 3
Add honey, curry, lime juice and salt. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Step 4
Carefully puree the mixture. Serve immediately.

Results

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I don’t usually try new recipes on guests, but it worked out well. I also froze the leftovers.

The Husband and The Colleague seemed genuinely complimentary. The Assistant, who isn’t a huge fan of any soup that doesn’t contain meat, said, “I actually like the curry a lot, and it makes the kitchen smell like good Indian food.” I think that’s a pretty good compliment.

I classified this as a medium-length weekday, but it’s an easy 30 minutes after work if you cube the squash ahead of time.

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