Sunday, April 10, 2011

Curried Apple Butternut Squash Soup



Spring is springing. So this will be the last of one of the soups I made over the winter. Actually, this soup is one of my favorites because it has such a unique blend of flavors. The nuttiness of the squash with the depth and gentle heat of the curry, coupled with the tiny sweet goodness of the apple.

I'm telling you, it's all about mouth feel and taste with this soup. Liquid velvet goodness, with a kick. (Did I just really type that?)

Quick and easy, especially in the pressure cooker.

Served with a crust of bread, and little dollop of sour cream?  What could be better?


Ingredients and Method:


2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 large chopped yellow onions
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 butternut squash, chopped (See my note about preparing Butternut Squash below)
3 sweet McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and chopped.
2 cups water
2 cups apple cider. (Don't skimp here, not apple juice, good and fresh apple cider)
Salt and pepper to taste.


First a note on butternut squash. I find it a pain to peel and cut up the squash. So what I do is, is pierce it several times. and microwave for 8 minutes until it begins to soften. It is then much easier to cut it open, cut into manageable sized chunks, and the the thick tough skin is easy to just cut off with a knife.


Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat in pressure cooker. (Or stock pot or dutch oven) Saute onions and curry powder until the onions are translucent. 


Add the squash, apples and water to pot. Bring up to pressure, and cook for 12 minutes. Let cool down normally. (If not using a pressure cooker, cook over medium heat for an hour until vegetables are very tender)


Open up pressure cooker and use a hand blender (or food processor) to combine mixture. Add cider and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of parsley and a small dollop of sour cream.




 Enjoy.

3 comments:

Vivian said...

Talk about coincidence...I just did a tray of roasted hazelnut brittle...and thought what a demented little sliver that would make on top of the sour cream!! Great soup recipe, Ron. Will be trying that in the next week. Thanks!

crayolkidd said...

This unfortunately is one of those recipes only an American could either understand or reproduce.

I always have to do a double-take when I see the name "butternut squash" when we think of the butternut as a pumpkin here in Australia. Used in curries although not to the Yankie (sweet) taste.

Not sure about the cider.. again, too sweet to balance out the creaminess of the butternut.

"McIntosh apples"... sweet or tart variety?

"Yellow" onions?? Worked as a chef (prefered cooking at home to all the stresses of making a career of it!) and still never heard of them... closest to brown white red or spring onions?

Curry powder... every "branded" recipe is different, and varying countres have different flavour "standards". You'll need to be more specific.

Not trying to be over critical, but this particular recipe highlights the need for clearer info so that people outside your country can make use of the base concept and emulate with locally available produce.

Ron Merlin said...

Yes, I perfectly understand your frustration. That being said, one must understand, I have no clue vice-versa for produce, spices, etc. in Australia. So I think to ask me to be able to do that is a bit beyond the pale. What we could do though, is collaborate and figure it out together.