I made this recipe on the spur of the moment as it was pouring rain and I was craving something comforting and healthy. It is ridiculous to buy processed soup when it is so easy to make your own, or so I believe! You don’t have to worry about nasty unpronounceable additives and the sodium levels are minuscule in homemade soup in comparison to canned.
TIP: Some stores now sell chopped squash, making this recipe even easier! Chopped squash freezes well!
Use a heavy bottomed, large saucepan that has a comfortable handle as you will be pouring hot liquids from the saucepan into a blender.
Dump everything into the saucepan:
3-4 cups peeled squash, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 large carrot chopped.
1 carton organic chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you are vegetarian)
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
If you have a large tea infuser, fill it with about 10 peppercorns, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and about 2 inches of cinnamon bark. Use cheese cloth if you don’t have an infuser.
Use ground cinnamon if you don’t have cinnamon bark, however it would be good to check the date to make sure its not lost its potency.
If you like curry, add a tsp of curry powder at this point. If you wanted a Thai curry flavour, smash a two inch section of lemongrass with the back of a cleaver and add it to the cheesecloth.
Bring everything to a rolling boil, then simmer at a low roll until the vegetables are tender. About 10 – 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes to cool. It’s not a good idea to pour boiling hot liquids into a blender! Yes, I speak from experience and no, I don’t have pictures.
Remove infuser/cheesecloth.
Pour vegetables and liquid into a quality blender, blend until smooth.
If your blender is smaller, blend in two batches, don’t fill the blender more than 2/3 full at a time.
Return the soup to the pot, then taste and adjust spices to your liking. I found the celery added enough ‘salt’ as I rarely add salt to my food, however, you may want to add salt. At this point, I added a lot of fresh ground pepper as I love pepper! If you prefer a more creamy soup, you could allow the soup to reduce by simmering it for a few minutes, then add 1 cup of coconut milk. With the curry powder, this is a delicious option!
Heat and serve. Freezes well 4 main dish servings, 6 first course servings.