Roasted curried butternut squash soup with garlic and herb croutons topped with roasted seeds
My dad bought a butternut squash and suggested I make a soup out of it. Fair enough, I'll make something good, if you buy the ingredients! This was super easy to make and it's dairy free too, because mum has convinced herself that milk = gross. She's not lactose-intolerant! Anyways, what you need to gather is...
Butternut squash (the bigger it is, the more soup you'll get)
Onions (sliced)
Garlic (chopped)
Vegetable stock or chicken stock, sodium free
Spices (I used a touch of curry, cumin and cinnamon)
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Optional: carrots, half and half cream, ground ginger...etc)
There are two ways to deal with the squash. (Just remember to save the seeds if you want to use them as garnish!)
a: you can peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut it in half, de-seed it and dice them
or
b: cut it in half, de-seed them and scoop out the flesh after it's been roasted.
Preheat oven to 425°F, rack in the middle.
Which ever way you choose to prep the squash, slather it in a bit of oilve oil, then salt and pepper lightly.
Throw it all in a baking pan liner with parchment paper, into the oven until it's done (add carrots if using. You'll know when you can stock a fork in it.
It's probably a good idea to turn the pieces of squash around the 20 minute mark to ensure even cooking.
While it's roasting away, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pot on medium.
When the oil it hot, add the spices you'll be using into it. This will release all the fragrant oils. Don't burn it!
Add the onions/garlic into the pan after 30 seconds or so. Cook until they're soft and dark in colour.
Pour your stock into the pot and keep hot.
Roast your seeds and/or croutons at this point.
Once the butternut squash is done, add the flesh into the pot. Blend with an immersion blender or
in the regular blender, add half stock half quash and blend. Do this in batches.
Taste, garnish and serve!
I like pouring my soup through a sieve to ensure that it's silky smooth and lump free