Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Pepper Soup

There is an abundance of butternut squash soup recipes out there, and for good reason. It’s just plain good and bears repeating time after time. Here’s how I made mine… this time.

Faye is suffering from what is commonly known as a cold, so I wanted this soup to include garlic, onion, turmeric and ginger for the immune system, and also plenty of spicy heat to open up the sinuses.

First of all I poured boiling water over a couple of dried Kashmiri chilis to soften them and facilitate seed removal.

 

Cold weather has turned the leaves of the turmeric and ginger plants brown but the rhizomes under the soil are in good shape.

 

A few red poblano and Anaheim peppers from the garden were still hanging out in the refrigerator. I roasted them under the broiler.

 

Cubed butternut squash, onion wedges, fresh turmeric, fresh ginger and a few large garlic cloves were misted with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt, cayenne pepper flakes and black pepper and roasted in a 425ºF oven.

 

The roasted and peeled red peppers, soaked and deseeded Kashmiri chilis, roasted onion wedges, turmeric, ginger and garlic were blended into a purée.

 

The puréed ingredients were added into a sauce pan along with the roasted butternut squash and heated to a simmer.

 

Powdered cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, grated nutmeg and kosher salt were added for seasoning.

 

The addition of water and a few plunges of a stick blender evened out the consistency.

Homemade curry leaf paste and frozen cubes of cilantro/vinegar concentrate were also added.

 

A drizzle of maple syrup couldn’t hurt.

 

A few glazed pecans and a cilantro leaf for garnish along with garlic toast made the meal complete. This soup met every expectation for spicy deliciousness.

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