It rained yesterday and today in San Luis Obispo which drew this busy student to the cozy confines of her apartment. I was going to settle for some left over chili(not really settling, but you know) and corn bread for dinner when this beautiful butternut squash was screaming from my counter top "EAT ME". Have you ever been yelled at by a squash? It's an unnerving, unexpected occurrence. Who was I to forbid this squash from a timely roasting? So I set off upon the task of making soup out of what I had "laying" around.
I cut the top and bottom of the squash off and then peeled the skin. With a spoon I scooped the grainy, seedy bits from the center. Then I placed in a pan with some salt, pepper, and a little EVOO(thank you Racheal Ray) and placed it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees(that's my best guess- I didn't really notice what the temperature I had turned it on to was).
The b nut squash after about 10 minutes (below).
So I melted about 2 Tbsp of butter in a heavy pan and cut up a sweet yellow onion. I put it in the pan and let it turn translucent. I sprinkled salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and some ginger on it.
Once the butternut squash was brown, soft, kind of caramelized and sweet to the taste I pulled it out of the oven and tossed into the sauce pan.
I let the onion and bnut get brown and the bottom of the pan to get "sticky". Then I poured in chicken broth to just cover the mixture.
After boiling for about 5 minutes I put in my magic bullet(yea you read that right) and blended the heck out of it. Then I tasted it. I could have stopped there... but I didn't.
A can of light coconut milk.
Then I added two different kinds of curry powder, coriander, black pepper, more ginger, cayenne pepper and a dash of maple syrup.
As soon as I was convinced it was savory, sweet, and superbly spicy I served in my favorite mug, with a dash of goat cheese, cilantro and cayenne pepper on top! Voila!!! It was brilliant. I was so bummed that I didn't have someone to share it with until I then realized I would have to share it. So as much as I love you all... I am glad to have had this pot of wonder all to myself!
Here's to a spectacular night of studying, being cozy inside, and reading a great book.
