One night last week, after I’d had a long and annoying day, Tony excitedly announced that we were making butternut squash soup for dinner. All I could manage was a scowl.
I was in a bratty mood—tired, hungry, and wanting pizza to magically appear next to me on the couch (and have no calories in it). I didn’t feel like cooking, and squash soup wasn’t nearly sexy enough to get me excited about moving.
After a few sheepish minutes, I forced myself off the cushions and into the kitchen, where things were starting to smell good. Tony had cooked up a piece of bacon, and was just beginning to sauté carrots, onions, and garlic in the drippings. Meanwhile, the squash was roasting away in the oven.
The smell of pork fat and simmering onions recharged my battery, and I was ready to get going. Tony found a poblano pepper in the bottom of the crisper and threw it in the oven with the squash. I rustled through the spices pulling out everything and anything that sounded good to me. (Usually a bad idea when you’re hungry.)
I added a heaping teaspoon of sweet curry; Tony insisted we use some paprika. We tasted. Not bad. I wanted thyme, he suggested bay leaves, so we went with both. We tasted again. Not bad at all. When the squash was tender, we scooped the sweet orange flesh into the pot, and added the roasty poblano. Finally, we crumbled the cooked bacon back in and pureed the soup in batches. Back on the stove, we adjusted the seasoning and added a splash of cream.
The final taste floored me! I know it sounds like our soup is having an international identity crisis—poblano pepper, French thyme, sweet curry, bay leaves, and Hungarian paprika all in the same pot. And you can chuckle if you want, but this soup was a-freaking-mazing! I couldn’t believe how delicious it was.
We ladled the soup into large bowls and garnished it with cilantro and a spoonful of plain yogurt. I ate my entire bowl, and mopped it clean with a piece of bread. Then set about “doing the dishes,” which was really just code for licking everything this soup had touched—bowl, spoons, ladles…maybe even the pot. It was straight up embarrassing. But I didn’t care.
If you do one thing this week, make this soup. It’s life changing. (Even if you want pizza or think you don’t like squash). I am passing this recipe on to you all because, when momentous things—like this soup—happen in your life, you just have to share them with the people you love.
Enjoy!
This soup sounds amazing! I loved this post too – particularly when you said the soup was having an international identity crisis and that you licked the bowl, spoon, ladle and pot. LOL. You funny, Sharon.
Who wants pizza when there’s frying bacon and onions on the stove!? Whaddaya think? Should this be our Thanksgiving first course? Can’t wait!
I can SO relate to the feeling you expressed, Sharon, and I too am blessed with a husband whose creative culinary zeal is infectuous. Frying bacon would get me off the couch in a jiffy! For years my fave butternut squash soup recipe has been Ina Garten’s curried variety, but this sounds like an elevation of that one that I absolutely must try! Thanks for sharing!
Mmm, this sounds like the perfect antidote to a chilly, foggy, November day. Maybe with some garlic bread and a nice green salad. I am going to the store right now to pick up the ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
I totally don’t know you, but I coincidentally made the same exact thing tonight 🙂
I just made this for lunch for my 6 and 8 year kids plus my husband, who I forewarned about the ingredients since he doesn’t like squash or onions or curry, that he might need to find something else in the fridge. Wow! Everyone so enjoyed – no, no LOVED – the soup that they all said, “It’s a keeper!” I was totally floored by the complexity of the flavors. I like Pam’s comments as the soup for a Thanksgiving first course! Keep cooking.
Oh, I love the idea of a life changing soup! Yes, the smell of bacon, curry & a big squash roasting in the oven would brighten my mood too!
I agree, a great idea for Thanksgiving’s first course. Oh, and the photo is lovely!
Update: I did make this soup and I and my family LOVED it! I loved the simplicity of being able to blend it with the stick blender (though I would remove the bay leaves first, the next time). The flavor was warming and the texture was reminiscent of split pea soup. This would probably also be really good with some home made croutons. This soup is a winner.
Sylvia and Lori…so glad you loved the soup!! Thanks for letting me know.
Sylvia, I completely forgot to tell people to take the bay leaves out before blending. Thanks for reminding me, I’ve added it to the recipe.
Made the soup tonight. A perfect recipe for a crisp fall evening here in the Northeast. I’m a novice cook at best but this seemed like something even I could pull off. A friend popped in just after I had added the spices and said “Wow, that smells great. What are you cooking?” I can safely say I’ve never heard that before when I’ve been in charge of the stove. I didn’t have a chile pepper and I was thinking afterwards that I should have tried adding hot pepper sherry. Next time!! Thanks Sharon, great idea.
Sharon I made this! Wild thing was that I had woken up that morning deciding to make butternut squash soup for a friend, happened to click into threemanycooks to see what you were all up to, and voila! there was your soup “experience!” And you were so right — it was lick-the-soup-ladle incredible. Thank you.