Curried Squash Soup

Winter food is simple. You can either roast it, make it into a slaw, or make it into a soup.

Simple is good.

Soup Ingredients

1 butternut squash

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped leeks (white parts)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 can coconut milk (or 2 cups milk or yogurt)

1 to 2 tsp garum masala or any curry powder you like

up to 1 quart chicken broth, depending on how thick you like your soup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Get a sharp knife and cutting board and muckle onto that squash. Cut it in two—prime meridian, not equator—and scoop out the seeds. If you’re planning to roast the seeds, clean off as much of the stringy orange stuff as you can, but don’t rinse them off. Pumpkin residue is delicious and you wouldn’t want to waste it.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the squash halves on it, flat sides down. Add a cup or two of hot water to the baking sheet. The steam helps your squash to cook more quickly, and the water also helps prevent a brown crust from forming on the cut face of the squash.

While your squash is roasting away, saute the onions and leeks along with the salt and oil. The goal is translucence. Mince the garlic and add it in when the others are nearly done.

The squash might take 40 minutes to roast, but you’ve already turned off the heat under the onions. You could wash some dishes, or make some aioli, but this might also be a good opportunity to light a candle and read a good book instead.

When your squash seems cooked, draw near a blender (we love a good stick blender for this type of job, but any blender will work.) Into the blender with all and sundry, though maybe add the broth in stages so you make sure you get the consistency you want.