By Chef Rich Baringer,
Butternut squash has become a pretty trendy vegetable, showing up in lots of recipes. And for good reason.
It’s delicious and versatile. Butternut squash can be roasted and boiled and sautéed and steamed and mashed. You can pair it with sweet or savory flavors in soups and pasta dishes and desserts. You can even roast the seeds for a healthy snack.
And talk about nutritious! Butternuts are packed full of good stuff. One cup of the squash gives you 10% of your daily value of Vitamin B-6, 11% dietary fiber, 14% potassium, 48% Vitamin C and a whopping 297% Vitamin A.
Probably my favorite way to use butternut is in soup. It’s warming and healthy and the flavors you can use are virtually endless. This simple and tasty recipe is one that I made recently for a client. It’s great for a cold weekend dinner and it freezes well, too!
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp curry powder
1 medium butternut squash (about 3 lbs), peeled, seeded and chopped in 2″ chunks
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped medium
1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
½ cup apple juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)
HOW TO
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add onions and curry powder. Cook, covered, over low heat until the onions are very soft, about 20 min.
- Add stock, squash and apples and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until squash and apples are very soft, about 25 min.
- Pour soup through a strainer, reserving the liquid, and transfer the solids to a food processor or food mill. (You can also return it to the pot and use an immersion blender.) Add one cup of cooking liquid and process until smooth.
- Return soup to the pot (if using food processor or food mill). Add apple juice and additional cooking liquid to bring it to the consistency that you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Ladle into bowls and top with a bit of sour cream, if desired.
Rich Baringer is chef/owner of Dinner’s Done Personal Chef Service. Rich graduated from the Culinary Business Academy in Atlanta, is a member of the U.S. Personal Chef Association. He owns Dinner’s Done Personal Chef Service and feeds clients all over Bucks County delicious food. Rich grew up in Haycock Township and has lived (and eaten) in Bucks County his whole life. He now lives in Blooming Glen Village with his wife, Mary Beth, his son Jake, and their pup, Teddy. For more information about Dinner’s Done PCS, contact Rich at 215.804.6438, dinnersdonepa@comcast.net or check out his website.
