Butternutsquash Soup!

Many years ago, when Thad and I were in Toronto, we had Butternut Squash Soup for the first time at a college function. We were TOTALLY blown away. I think growing up in Asia, we don’t use a lot of “winter veggies”, which are the various squashes. Pumpkins, butternut squash, carnival squash, turban squash… they are all really cute! Growing up, all I knew about them was what I read in Enid Blyton (somehow, the characters were always making squash soups). Asian soups are always either very leafy (watercress, cabbage etc.), or involving roots (lotus, radish etc). Anyway, butternut squashes are soooo cute. They’re like little gourds.

Butternut Squash!

Because he loved it so much and I love him so *ahem*, I bravely attempted to make butternut squash soup. To cut a story short, it was a disaster and til now, I’m not sure why, because it’s extremely simple!!

Halved Butternut Squash

I think the toughest part of this recipe is actually chopping up the squash. And that’s only because I have a small utility knife, and not a big chopping knife.

Butternut Squash Soup
1. Chop squash into small 1-inch cubes. If you have an oven, you can bake it til it is soft (and it is suppose to have a nice roasty taste and smell), leave it to cool and then cut.
2. Throw it into a saucepan on moderate heat and boil. Add VERY LITTLE water (the best I can describe is to cover the base of the pot) to assist in the softening and boiling of the squash.
3. Using a wooden spatula, slowly mash and stir the squash until soft and mushy. Cool.
4. Throw into a blender and puree. (If you don’t have a blender and don’t mind some lumps and fibrous texture, you don’t have to blend it I guess.)
5. Pour back into saucepan and boil. Add sugar, pepper and salt to taste. If you like it more savoury, do not add sugar.

This is reaally the basic recipe. You can google for real cool recipes where they throw in thyme and all sorts of funky herbs. But I think the butternut squash does pretty well on its own. It’s really great when the weather’s cold, and it’s very Christmassy/Thanksgiving!