Coconut Curry Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Perfect for a crisp Autumn day, this Coconut Curry Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup is slightly sweet, savory, and intensely flavorful.  The color of the soup is reminiscent of the changing leaves in New England.

One of the loveliest occurrences in nature is the colorful tapestries that occur in New England when Autumn embraces the trees and everything shifts to brilliant golds, oranges, and reds.  If you ever have the pleasure of witnessing a sunrise over a wooded forest of trees, it is stunning with the quiet serenity and dignity of how the gilded streaks of color in the sky meld into a patchwork quilt of trees who echo the same colors back.  Of course, this immense amount of beauty is nature’s way of easing you into the fact there will soon be 8 solid months of winter, grayness, and snowstorms, but I digress.  Autumn, if you have not yet caught it from all of my adoring words, is my absolute favorite season.  The Southwest has its own natural beauty, but nothing can beat the crispness of the air as you meander down the winding path to your destination.  

With Autumn and all of the beautiful changing leaves (everywhere but the Southwest haha) comes the official start of Soup Season.  Soup, to me, is a perfect meal as it is incredibly flavorful, incorporates vegetables and proteins, and is incredibly satisfying.  While others consider myself crazy to consume soup during the heat of the Arizona summer, I consider many to be just as crazy to stand next to a 750 degree grill or fire pit for a mere hot dog.  Once it cools down though, everyone gets on the same page and the sweet sounds of soup slurping commence.

I have always been drawn to incredibly savory soups, hearty Minestrone or delicate Lemon Chicken, or the tang and acidity of a beautiful Tomato Soup.  I have never been one to be incredibly drawn to soups that are sweeter, such as Carrot Ginger, or even a Chilled Cucumber Soup.  They always seemed to be slightly too sweet and not quite comforting enough to fit my personal definition of satisfaction from soups.  I had, kicking around in my fridge, a Butternut Squash, and I was determined to transform it into a soup that I could find both hearty and comforting at the same time.

This soup has such an incredibly silky, velvet texture on your tongue that is offset by the crunch of the Butternut Seeds you toast to garnish it.

For the most part, my interactions with Butternut Squash have either been roasted or mashed.  Roasting it brings out the natural sweetness, and I love how the edges can get nice and crispy, caramelized and meltingly perfect.  I knew that if the seasonings were not balanced the soup I was longing for would be too sweet.  So I perused some different recipes for different directions I could take the soup - some I knew right off the bat were not going to even have part of the ingredients be a contender as it was just going to out-sweet itself (Cinnamon and Apples, I am looking at you).  I love curry, andethought that would make a great addition to base the soup upon.

Since I am slightly lactose intolerant, I have a tendency to shy away from heavily creamy dishes, or overly cheesy dishes.  I thought a nice pairing with the curry powder would be some coconut milk, and then I looked into other vegetables to thicken out the viscosity of the soup to create the illusion of creaminess rather than force feeding it to myself.  Leafing through my spice cabinet, I pulled a few different spices that I thought may help enhance or contrast the natural sweetness of the Butternut Squash.  I also raided my stock supplies to see what else I could add in.  While you definitely need the Butternut Squash and that may be a special purchase, the other vegetables that made their way into the final soup are pantry staples.

The resulting soup is completely wonderful, and the color is reminiscent of the Orange-gold Maple Leaves from my memory of New England.  Chicken Stock is used to help add a savory element, but you can completely substitute a flavorful vegetable stock to help transform this soup to Vegan.  The Curry Powder, Cumin, and Smoked Paprika help balance out the natural sweetness of the squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  This is a pureed soup, and the velvety texture dances on your tongue.  I toasted the Butternut Squash seeds and they get this completely wonderful, earthy, toasty flavor which is a wonderful contrast to the natural sweetness of the soup. I served it with chopped Dried Cherries and Feta Cheese crumbles, though I do think that Creme Fraiche would work wonderfully if you want to enhance the silken texture of the soup itself.  If you are Vegan, again skipping the cheese and substituting a great Vegetable Stock will still yield a very flavorful, delicious soup.

A note on Butternut Squash.  They are oddly shaped and finicky to chop and break down.  It is imperativeto make sure your knife is very sharp and that your cutting board is very secure.  I chop the ends off, then cut down the center lengthwise.  Then I carefully and slowly peel the bottom half of the squash, flip it on the other end, and continue peeling that half.  It is easy to scoop the seeds out at that point.  If you do not have a knife sharpener, there are electric ones available for about $20 at Walmart that are very easy to operate.  A sharp knife is going to be your safest tool in the kitchen - it is very dangerous even for a fully sighted person to try and break down anything tough with a dull knife. 

Garnished with some fresh Parsley, Feta Cheese Crumbles, chopped Dried Cherries, and those toasted Butternut Squash seeds, each mouthful has a medley of textures and flavors, from silky to crunchy, salty and sweet, yet everything is so harmonious as the flavors roll around on your tongue.

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 4-6

This soup is very easy to throw together, and if you happen to have leftovers, the flavors mellow and deepen overnight making the soup even better the next day.  I think it would keep up to 5 days in the fridge, and imagine it would freeze pretty well as there are not big chunks of vegetables that could change their texture from freezing.

I ate this with the toasted Butternut Squash Seeds, Dried Cherries, Feta Cheese Crumbles, and a little chopped Parsley the first day.  Because this soup is so silky smooth and velvety, it pairs really well with a nice crusty piece of bread.  The next day I ate it with a piece of No Knead Pecorino Romano Herb bread, however I think because of the Curry Powder it would pair beautifully with some toasted Pita or Garlic Naan bread as well.

Ingredients

For the Soup:

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 1/2 Cups chopped Onion

• 1 Tbsp minced Garlic

• 1/2 Cup chopped Carrots

• 1 1/2 Cups cubed Sweet Potato

• 6 Cups cubed Butternut Squash

• 1/4 Cup Water

• 2 Tsp Curry Powder

• 1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger

• 1/4 Tsp SmokedPaprika

• 1/4 Tsp Cumin

• 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt + additional salt to taste (I think roughly another 3/4 Tsp to 1 Tsp, depending on the size of your sweet potatoes)

• 1/4 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes

• 10 Grinds of a Black Pepper Mill

• 4 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock

• 1 can Coconut Milk (full fat)

For the Toasted Butternut Squash Seeds:

• Seeds from the Butternut Squash, rinsed and patted dry

• 1/2 Tsp Olive Oil

• Cumin

• Curry Powder

• Sea Salt

• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

To Serve:

• Feta Cheese, or Creme Fraiche

• Dried Cherries, diced

• Parsley or Cilantro

• Toasted Butternut Squash Seeds

Directions

For the Soup:

1. In a large Dutch Oven, heat 2 Tbsp Olive Oil over medium high heat until it shimmers and smells grassy. If you drop a flick of water into the pot, it will sizzle and hiss when hot.

2. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to help draw out the natural sugars and stir. Saute for 5-7 minutes, until the onions are browning on the edges and start smelling complex and sweet. The longer you let them cook down and color, the more depth of flavor will be in the final soup. Color equals flavor!!

3. When the onions are nice and starting to caramelize on the edges, add in the garlic and continue to cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Add the Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Butternut Squash and 1/4 Cup of Water. Stir and try to scrape up any bits of onion that may have tried to stick to the bottom of the pot.

5. Add the Curry Powder, Ground Ginger, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt, and the 10 grinds of Black Pepper. Stir thoroughly to make sure everything is coated well in the spices.

6. Lower the heat to medium and cover. Let the vegetables start to soften and cook down. Stir every so often so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

7. Add in the Chicken or Vegetable Stock. Stir to combine and at this point you can also scrape any bits that have tried to stick to the bottom. Those little bits are super flavorful and will make your final soup taste amazing, so utilize them! Cook for another 20 Minutes. During this time you can pop the Butternut Squash Seeds in the oven to toast.

8. After the 20 minutes, check to see if all the vegetables are nice and soft and can easily be mashed against the side of the pot with the side of a spoon. If the vegetables are at this state, add in the Coconut Milk and stir to thoroughly combine.

9. At this point you can blend the soup. You can either use an immersion blender, full size blender, or food processor. If you do not have any of these you can use a potato masher, but the soup will stay a little chunky rather than have a velvety smooth texture.

10. Once the soup is blended, taste and adjust salt if needed.

For the Butternut Squash Seeds:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Line a half sized baking sheet with Aluminum Foil.

3. In a bowl, combine the washed Butternut Squash seeds with the Olive Oil, and then sprinkle some Curry Powder, Cumin, Salt and Pepper and gently stir to combine. This is more of a guideline, if you prefer Cumin to Curry flavors then add more Cumin, etc. Be sure to taste to make sure you have salted them enough.

4. Spread the seeds on the prepared baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 15-20 minutes, checking every so often after the 10 minute mark to see if they have crisped up to the texture of your liking. I baked mine for 20 minutes, but depending on how many seeds there are it may take longer or shorter.

5. Once the seeds are toasted to your preference, lightly salt once more and taste to see if the balance is right to your tastebuds.

To Serve:

1. Ladle Butternut Squash soup in bowls.

2. Top with the chopped Dried Cherries, Toasted Butternut Squash Seeds, and either Feta Cheese Crumbles or Creme Fraiche.