Note: This is really not a recipe so much as a way to use an entire butternut  squash or a package of squash all ready for cooking or baking. It uses only three ingredients, so if you use the prepared squash from the market, the dish is easy, except you cook the squash instead of baking it.

Utensils: Baking pan or pot for squash, cutting board and knife, blender or food processor
Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Cook. Time: 45 minutes, most of which is cooking the squash, so you can do other chores
Category: Vegan, Gluten, Dairy & Sugar Free

Ingredients

One (organic) butternut squash or one package of peeled & cut squash (2 1/2 – 3 cups)
Soup stock or water (Start with 2 cups)
Five-spice powder or curry powder

Directions

1. If using packaged squash, cook in more than enough water or stock to cover and simmer til tender, 15 minutes or more depending on the size of your pieces. If baking, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 – 400 degrees until you can poke it with a fork. (I scored it first.) Time depends on size, but probably 45 minutes should do it for a medium sized squash.

2. If using the cooked squash, allow to cool before pureeing in the blender, a few pieces at a time, starting with the  cooking water (about 2 cups) and adding more if needed for a soupy consistency. If using baked squash, you also will need to cool it down as well as peel it, remove the seeds, and then chop into manageable pieces for blender or food processor.

3. Add five-spice powder or curry powder to taste. Start with 1 -2 teaspoons. Heat to allow spices to penetrate into the soup. (The cooked squash has a liquid already heated from cooking, but the baked squash puree will need more heating, since no liquid was used.)

Serve hot with a sprinkling of 5-spice powder or curry powder on top. This makes about one quart, depending on how thick or thin you like your soup. If thick, there will be less. If thin, you can also use this as a sauce.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Kitchen Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.