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Curried Pear and Butternut Squash Soup
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Easy
This soup is a wonderful cool weather treat with the comforting flavor of butternut squash, sweetened with pears, all amped up with curry and ginger. Don't forget the sweet and spicy pepitas and goat cheese for garnish.
Pureed Vegetable Soups
I love pureed vegetable soups. They are healthy, easy-to-make, and freeze well. Check out my post on How to Make Cream-Less Pureed Vegetable Soups to find out just how easy it is. You don't even need a recipe!Coconut Milk
I like to finish this soup with a cup of coconut milk. The soup is delicious without it, but I think the coconut milk is definitely an enhancement and adds to the flavor and creaminess of the soup. From a health standpoint, coconut milk and all coconut products are somewhat controversial. With one school of thought professing coconut to be uber-healthy side and another advocating limited consumption. See my post for information on the coconut nutritional controversy as well as my favorite brand of coconut milk that is BPA free.Click to download our free e-cookbook: 3 Fabulous Turkey Recipes Guaranteed To Be Spectacular
Butternut Squash
Butternut squash is a fall and winter favorite that lends itself particularly well to soup. If you are new to cooking with butternut squash you will be surprised to learn what a fierce skin it has and how difficult it is to cut open or slice. See my post for the trick to prepare butternut squash for easy slicing as well as the nutritional and health benefits of butternut squash.Dutch Ovens
A Dutch oven is the perfect pot to make pureed vegetable soups. A Dutch oven is simply an enameled cast iron pot that heats evenly and minimizes scorching. Dutch ovens are an investment, but a good one will last you a lifetime. In fact, in France, who gets the Dutch oven is said to frequently be the most controversial part of a family inheritance! See my post on Dutch ovens for more information.Special Diets
This soup is easily modified for special diets. Eliminate the goat cheese garnish for Paleo, Whole 30, dairy-free and vegan diets.More Butternut Squash and Other Pureed Vegetable Soup Recipes
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Lime and Coconut
- Pear Soup with Blue Cheese and Pancetta
- Roasted Carrot and Coconut Milk Soup
- Leek, Potato and Asparagus Soup
- Wild Mushroom Soup
Curried Pear and Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is a wonderful cool weather treat with the comforting flavor of butternut squash, sweetened with pears and amped up with curry and ginger. Don’t forget the sweet and spicy pepitas and goat cheese for garnish.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 60 minutes
- Yield: 12 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: New American
Ingredients
For the soup
- 4 pounds butternut squash
- 4 T olive oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2” piece of ginger root, peeled and minced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 2 t – 3 T curry powder, depends on curry strength and personal preference
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 T maple syrup
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 5 Bartlett pears, quartered and seeded, peeling is optional
- 1 cup coconut milk (optional)
For the garnish
- 1 cup pepitas
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 T brown sugar
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
- 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese (optional)
Instructions
For the soup
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Poke the butternut squash all over 8 – 10 times with a fork, so all sides are pierced. Microwave the butternut squash for 5 minutes. Allow to cool. Slice in half lengthwise. Seed the squash and place on a baking sheet. Brush with 1 – 2 T olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove squash from the oven and cool.
- While the squash is roasting, heat a large heavy bottomed soup pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium heat. Add 2 T olive oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add garlic, ginger and onion. Saute for about 15 minutes until soft, taking care not to burn. Stir in some curry powder and bay leaf and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Start easy on the curry. You can always add more curry later if the curry flavor is not strong enough.
- Add broth, maple syrup and pears to the pot. Scoop out the flesh of the butternut squash and add to the pot, discarding the skin. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low for about 20 – 25 minutes until pears are soft and pierce easily with a fork. Remove the bay leaf.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender, standard blender or food processor.
- Return the soup to the pot, add coconut milk, heat to a simmer and adjust seasonings.
For the garnish
- While the soup is simmering, toast the pepitas in a medium-hot skillet, stirring frequently. When they start to brown and pop like popcorn, reduce the heat and sprinkle brown sugar, salt and cayenne pepper over them. Stir while the sugar dissolves and remove from the stove and let cool on a plate.
- Serve the soup with crumbled goat cheese and a sprinkling of spiced pepitas.
Notes
- The pears do not have to be peeled. Peeling them results in a smoother soup texture, but leaving the peels on adds to the nutrition of the soup.
- There are three ways to puree the soup. You can use an immersion blender, a standard blender or a food processor. For the creamiest texture use a standard blender.
- Commercial curry powder varies greatly in strength, so go easy on the curry unless you are very familiar with your curry. You can always add more if needed. If you plan on adding coconut milk to finish the soup you can add a little extra curry powder as the coconut mellows the curry substantially.
- If you plan to freeze the soup, do not add coconut milk to the portion of the soup you will freeze. Soup may be frozen for 2 – 3 months.
Pears and Squash together really is appealing!
I would have to change a few things though.
No coconut milk (allergy)and curry is a definite no.
I think half milk and half cream would make up the creaminess.
Also I think cardamon would be a plus to replace the curry.
What do you think?
HI Charlie, this soup is great without the coconut milk. You can skip any kind of milk or cream or add it for a little extra creaminess. I suggest blending the soup without the half & half first and tasting it. You might do a taste comparison and stir a little cream into a cup of soup to compare the difference. Cardamom sounds fabulous! Maybe a little cinnamon too. Please write back and let us know how it goes! Happy Thanksgiving!