Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Any sort of soup makes for a great first dish at a dinner party for so many reasons. It's easy to prepare for a start. Usually the most that's involved is cutting up a few vegetables, throwing them into a pot and cooking them, adding some stock and blending it all up. Being so full of veg it's also incredibly good for you, and may contain more than one of your five a day, and lets not forget the fact that soup also is tastes great!
Below is the recipe for squash soup, curry style. I have been very middle of the road with my selection of spiciness but obviously increase or decrease the heat of the paste as you see fit.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion - chopped, 1 red chilli - chopped (optional), 1 clove garlic - crushed, 2 butternut squash - flesh cubed, 1 tbsp medium curry paste, 300ml/ pint of good vegetable stock, 200ml/7fl oz coconut milk and 2 tbsp fresh coriander - chopped.
Steps
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the sliced onion, garlic and chilli and toss so the oil covers them nicely. Fry for around five minutes until the onion has softened.
2. Add the squash and continue to fry for 5 minutes. Stir through the curry paste and fry for a further minute. Pour over the stock and coconut milk, bring to the boil, and cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the squash is tender.
3. Transfer to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pan, add the coriander, and season well. Serve with plenty of crusty bread.
Here's a tip (albeit a slightly obvious one) - the freshest ingredients makes for a better soup!! And you know what? In my opinion you can't beat ingredients that are home grown. If you are a keen chef then I recommend this as the results can be superb!

For more butternut squash soup recipes click the link!

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

This butternut squash soup recipe is absolutely delicious. It is so easy to make and cooks in no time at all.
This soup is my moms creation and is really yummy and healthy too. Butternuts are so healthy, packed full of beta-carotene and vitamin C. They are also high in potassium which helps to lower blood pressure and folic acid which reduces the risk of heart attack and prevents birth defects if taken by pregnant woman. This soup is really high in fiber which is essential for intestinal health and helps prevents intestinal cancers such as colon cancer.
This soup is loved by my whole family - it often feels like such an accomplishment to find recipes that my children love so I make this soup often and always have some in the freezer for those days when I don't have time to cook a meal. I simply defrost, reheat and serve - it couldn't be easier!

Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients:
* 2 or 3 onions, diced
* 2 medium sized butternut squash (about 1.5kg), cubed
* 2 potatoes, cubed
* 2 carrots, sliced into rounds or grated
* 3 celery stalks, sliced
* 1 litre beef stock
* 1 litre water
* 2T soy sauce
* Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Put all the ingredients into a large pot and cook until soft - about 45 minutes.
2. Once the soup is cooked, liquidize until smooth.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve with love and crusty whole-wheat or rye bread and enjoy!
I hope you and your family enjoy this butternut soup as much as we do!

Catherine Zehrt is a freelance writer with an interest in healthy eating for the family. For healthy, quick and easy recipes as well as simple guidelines for healthy eating, visit her website Healthy-Family-Eating.com

Squash Soup Recipe

In Australia butternut squash is known as butternut pumpkin and is a type of winter squash. It's a fruit that grows on a vine, originates from around Mexico and is similar to a pumpkin, with a sweet, nutty taste with yellow skin and an orange pulp. As it gets riper it becomes increasingly orange as well as becoming increasingly richer and sweeter. Butternut squash is great as it's not only versatile - it's an excellent source of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A, manganese and potassium. It can be roasted, toasted, grilled, pured, or mashed and used in soup, bread, casseroles, even muffins. Squash soup makes a great starter: it's heathy, easy to prepare and above all it's delicious. Below is a simple recipe that I hope you will enjoy!

Time from opening cupboards to serving: Half an hour, Serves four people
Ingredients: one fairly large butternut squash, a large onion, half a kilo of potatoes, fresh coriander leaves (these are optional), 35ml of olive oil, around 70ml of double cream, a cube of stock, pepper and a 1 inch cube of butter
1. Take the squash and chop off the stalk and flower. Peel with a potato peeler. Chop in half and use a spoon to remove all seeds. Chop into 1 inch cubes
2. Add the butter and oil to a large pan and slowly melt the butter thoroughly.
3. Peel & chop the onion. Fry it gently in the pan, with the lid on, until it starts to soften. Keep stirring and checking to make sure the onion doesn't brown.
4. Peel the skin off all the potatoes. Cut these into 1cm cubes and add to the onions. Make sure you stir them well to get them covered in oil.
5. Add the butternut squash. Stir well then cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. After ten minutes the potato should have started to get softer. At this point add the cube of stock to 1l of water, mix well, and add to the pan. Leave this simmering slowly until all the vegetables soften. This will take a 1/4 hour and during this time add water if necessary (making sure the veg are just covered)
7. It is optional to add the coriander but I would definitely recommend adding cream. Once added use a masher or blender to smooth the soup.

To download this recipe and more visit my squash soup website...click the link!