Spicy Squash Soup + Bonus Baby Food Recipe
Is this just me? Or do you see those beautiful squashes at the market every fall and you buy them but then they just sit on your counter to rot? Oh, okay. It’s not just me. The price is right and they look so festive but you need some inspiration to get your squash to move. There are 1 million butternut squash soup recipes out there and maybe you don’t need another one. But this one is really flavorful, and I think pretty easy. If you’re a mom of a young baby you can also find a bonus recipe at the bottom of how to turn these flavors and ingredients into some food for your babe, that can be made at the same time you’re cooking this soup.
Ingredients:
2.5 lbs of any type of winter squash (kabocha, butternut, honey nut) *see notes
3 tablespoons oil (coconut, avocado or olive)
½ lbs. Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 (2 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves
1-2 jalapenos or red chilies, roughly chopped (seeded if you don’t like too spicy) *see notes
1 (14 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk (coconut cream works fine too)
4-5 cups of stock or water
2 limes
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (maybe more)
Chili oil, for garnishing
Here’s How:
Heat a large pan with low sides over medium high heat. Scrape all of the curry paste into the pan and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. A rubber spatula is very helpful here.
Stir in the coconut milk. Fill the coconut milk can halfway with water (stock works great too!) and add it to the pan. Bring to a simmer and add the mushrooms, snow peas and frozen peas.
Add in whatever protein you're using and simmer everything for another 10-12 minutes, depending on your protein of choice, until everything is cooked through.
Stir in any pre-steamed vegetables and squeeze the juice of the reserved lime into the curry. Taste for salt. If the curry seems lacking salt, add in another dash of fish sauce.
Serve with rice or rice noodles. Herbs like cilantro, mint or basil would be great as a garnish.
Notes:
The preparation of the squash really depends on what kind you choose. If you choose to use Butternut or Honeynut Squash, that has skin that’s not edible, you will need to peel the squash, scoop out the seeds and cut it into cubes. This will go into the soup raw and simmer until it’s soft. If you're using a squash that has skin thats hard to peel off, but edible, like a Kabocha or Acorn squash, I recommend you cut up the squash in big chunks and steam it until soft and then cut away the skin. This is because of two reasons: 1. It’s very hard to peel their skins off. 2. You’ll want to discard the dark green skin so that your soup remains bright yellow/orange. If you're making the bonus baby food recipe, you can put aside some of this pre-steamed squash to use for that. A third option is if you opt for a Red Kuri Squash which you can eat the skin and it’s a nice orange color. Then I would recommend either simmering it right in the soup OR pre-steaming and keeping the skin on. I don’t recommend spaghetti squash for this.
All jalapeños vary in heat. Some are super fiery and some have no heat at all. The best way to test this is by cutting off the stem and testing it with your tongue - you’ll be able to tell right away. Is this a food safe restaurant quality method? No, but you're most likely in your own kitchen and the heat of cooking will kill any germs you may impart on your jalapeños :)
Squash, Coconut & Lime Baby Puree
Handful of Cooked Squash
*either pre-steamed or pieces fished out of the soup before blending.
A scoop of coconut milk
A few grates of lime zest (using a microplane)
A few grates of ginger (using a microplane)
1. Blend until super smooth, using a little water to loosen if necessary
