Curried Butternut Squash Soup

My wonderful wonderful mother-in-law shared this recipe for Curried Butternut Squash Soup. It's velvety and rich with just a hint of heat from the curry. With squash, apples, celery, and onion, it is chalked full of things that are good for you. We enjoyed this soup with beer bread and found that the soup was even more delicious sopped up in a big soft piece of bread. Beer bread + thick, rich soup = heaven! So comforting and warming --perfect for those of you who are snowed in right now during the "snowpocalypse". Meanwhile, here in Virginia it was sunny and 70 degrees tonight, not exactly soup weather! And yes, I am bragging! :)

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 10 (next time I will halve the recipe)
Printable Version


Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 apples, peeled and chopped
2 quarts of vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon white pepper
3 tablespoons softened butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used fat free half&half and it made no difference on the taste)


Directions
In a soup pot or Dutch oven drizzle olive oil and add celery and onion. Cook the vegetables until softened but do no allow to brown.

 Add squash, stock, apples, and seasonings. 

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low boil. Cook until the squash is very soft. If you have a hand blender, puree the vegetables until thick and smooth. If not, strain the liquid and reserve. Then puree the chunks with some of the soup liquid until thick and smooth. Return to pot and bring to a boil. Mix the butter and the flour together in a small bowl with a whisk. Turn down the heat and add mixture into the soup. Bring the soup back to a boil. Add cream and taste for additional salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt.