Cook up a pot of hearty Butternut Squash Soup

Here’s a rich-tasting, family friendly recipe of hearty butternut squash soup that you simply won’t want to pass up. No need to precook the fresh squash. Simply toss it in your soup pot to cook with the other ingredients for less than an hour, and then whirl everything together in your blender in minutes. Enjoy the added bonus of a wonderful aroma filling your home, welcoming everyone for nourishment and relaxing conversation around your dinner table.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, minced

2 stalks of celery diced

4-5 teaspoons (or less) curry powder, according to taste

3 cups peeled (a vegetable peeler works well), seeded and cut-up butternut squash

2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional garnishes:

“Apple slice designs” (below), fresh chives or parsley

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add onion, celery and salt to taste, stirring 3 minutes. Add curry powder and continue stirring until onion and celery are soft, about 5 more minutes.

Add squash, apples and stock, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to low, cover pot and simmer until squash and apples are very soft, about 35 minutes.

Cool soup slightly (important!) and puree by whirling in batches in a blender. Return the soup to the pot. Stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper and then simmer briefly to heat through. Serve garnished with an apple slice design, parsley or chives.

Apple Slice Designs

Slice an apple in half through the middle crosswise. Cut several thin, round slices from each of the halves. Set them on a cutting board, and let your child press tiny cookie cutters through the middle core section of each slice — leaving a cute shape in the middle. Discard the cut-out pieces containing seeds and the core. Nibble on the rest!

“The grandkids are coming!” tip: To encourage healthy apple snacking, keep an assortment of small cookie cutters on hand and use them for making “apple-slice designs.” Use tiny pumpkins in fall, Christmas-tree and star-shaped cookie cutters in December, a snowman in January, a heart in February and a bunny for spring.