Spicy Butternut Squash Soup | An Autumn Treat

I'm in an October frame of mind! With trick or treating season just around the corner, here's a trick to create a hot treat on a cold Fall night...

If you dare, spice up a traditional butternut squash soup with just one secret ingredient. The addition of Madras Curry Powder jazzes up this soup a tad and provides just the right amount of kick that's sure to bewitch you.

Mythical Spicy Butternut Squash Recipe

The witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth were the pioneers of this potent potion.

Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,--

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

        -Macbeth (IV, i, 14-15)

However, you would probably be hard pressed to find eye of newt and toe of frog in grocery stores these days. And just forget about wool of bat and tongue of dog. 

Madras Curry Powder can serve as a perfectly safe modern day substitute for these hard to come by ingredients.

This little tin of Madras Curry Powder contains a perfectly proportioned, pre-mixed blend of specially selected spices- coriander, turmeric, chili, salt, fennel, black pepper, fenugreek, garlic, bay leaf, cumin, ginger and cassia.

A couple of dashes of this magic ingredient thrown into your soup cauldron makes for a spell-worthy, spicy Halloween treat.

Spicy Curried Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

☐ 1 small butternut squash roasted (2.5 cups cooked)

☐ 4 cups chicken broth
☐ 3 teaspoons Madras Curry Powder
☐ 4 strips of bacon or pancetta, fried and chopped into bits
☐ 1/2 onion chopped
☐ 2 cloves garlic minced
☐ Oil

Step by Step Instructions:

1. Roast the butternut squash

Cut squash into two lengthwise. Place in a baking pan, cut side down and fill pan with 1 inch of water. Roast the butternut squash at 450° F for 30 minutes or until a knife can easily pierce the skin of the squash.

2. Prepare the broth

In 2 tablespoons of oil, soften the chopped onions and minced garlic.

Add 3 teaspoons of Madras Curry powder and fry for 5 seconds.

Add the chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the stove.

3. Puree

Puree the butternut squash, along with the hot broth to blend the squash, softened onion and garlic into a smooth, silky melange.

Return to stove to heat the soup. Do NOT boil.

4. Garnish and serve

Serve garnished with chopped parsley, bacon bits and a drizzle of cream.

To explore my other internationally inspired recipes, click on "GLOBAL" below.