It suddenly got cold in our house, our neighborhood, and in all of New England.  That always brings on a yearning for soup, hot in temperature and spicy in flavor.  This one’s special–you know you’ve scored a hit when one housemate says “this is the best treatment of butternut squash I’ve ever experienced” and another says “best soup ever.” If you don’t count the time it took to make the chicken broth or roast the butternut squash, this is about an hour’s worth of work.

Don’t worry about making the vegetables look pretty—they’re going to be puréed, so looks don’t matter.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 6 cups cooked butternut squash (Put a whole squash on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven. Cook until a fork goes in easily all over the squash and the skin feels like parchment paper. Cool and remove skin and seeds. Time to roast depends on the size of the squash—start checking it after about 30 minutes.)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 6 cups homemade or store-bought low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery, onion, curry paste, and ginger. Cook on medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have begun to soften and the onion turns translucent, about 8 -10 minutes.

Add the squash, thyme, broth, coconut milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then purée the soup.  I used an immersion blender, but you can use a regular blender too.  Reheat and serve.

Garnishes could include just about anything but try:

• Coconut flakes (unsweetened) and fresh cilantro–pictured
• Chopped apples and celery
• Sliced toasted almonds
• Plain yogurt or a swirl of cream
• Chopped bell or hot peppers

This soup is even better the second or third day.  Some kind of magic happens when the flavors merge–but it’s spectacular right away, too.