Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Hooray everyone, it's soup season!

I love this time of year. Crisp and cool fall weather- also known as sweater weather!

I love the beautiful colors as the trees change, and best of all a transition to warm and comforting cozy fall cooking.

This soup is really an homage to another part of fall that everyone seems to be so excited about- Halloween.

According to my roommates I have not been getting in the spirit enough, so why not make orange soup?

Butternut squash is such a perfect shade for this!

I had never actually cooked with butternut squash before.
It turns out they are incredibly tough and so it took a bit of elbow grease to butcher this thing. After a considerable amount of time and quite a mess, I eventually managed to cut the squash into chunks.

Now I'm not really a sweet squash fan. I know a lot of people like to put brown sugar and all that on squash and eat it like dessert. I'm not about that.

I like savory things, especially soup, and some of my favorite savory flavors come from Thai food. There's this amazing Thai restaurant not far from our apartment that makes ridiculously good Thai curry. It's flavored with chiles, coconut milk, and lime as well as lots of aromatics.

So to start we're going to build a flavor base with onion, garlic, ginger and red Thai curry paste.

I used curry paste from the store this time because I didn't have the extensive list of ingredients needed for making it from scratch, but maybe that will be a post in the future :)

We saute all these base flavors together, and then add in our cubes of butternut squash along with vegetable broth.

Let this simmer until the squash is soft, and then if you're like me, transfer it to your super cute miniature food processor and puree into silky orange wonderfulness.

Isn't it cute?!?!

Once all your squash is pureed, transfer the soup back to a pot to add the finishing touches-

Creamy coconut milk and a fresh hit of lime.

See how it's silky smooth and flecked with chiles? Top it off with cilantro and pepitas if you desire and enjoy the bright and exotic flavors of lime and coconut as they contrast with the mellow sweetness of the butternut squash. This soup is perfect for fall, and a little unexpected but definitely delicious. It's also just the right color for celebrating Halloween, which everyone seems to be so excited about right now. Hehe

Give this one a try if you're feeling adventurous, and have a great week.

Enjoy!

`~Maddy

Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup

adapted from How Sweet It Is

3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 sweet onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons red curry paste
3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
4 cups uncooked butternut squash (1-inch) cubes
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
1 lime, juiced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup torn fresh cilantro for serving
1/3 cup pepitas for serving

Heat a large pot over medium-low heat and add coconut oil. Once it's melted, add in the onions and the garlic with a pinch of salt and stir. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the ginger and curry paste and stir until it is incorporated. Cook the curry and onion mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the stock and add the squash cubes. Cover the pot and increase the heat to medium. Cook until the squash is soft, about 20 minutes.

Once the squash is soft, turn off the heat and very carefully pour the entire mixture into a blender. Blend until the soup is smooth and pureed. Pour it back into the pot and turn the heat on to medium low. Add in the coconut milk, lime juice, salt and pepper, and stir. Cover and cook the soup for 10 minutes until it's completely warm. Taste and season additionally if desired. Serve the soup with a garnish of torn cilantro and pepitas.