Butternut Squash, Red Lentil & Coconut Soup

I don't want to start another post in disbelief that, once again, time has passed much too quickly for my liking. But really, how is it almost November already?



The family and I went apple picking for the Thanksgiving weekend, an outing that is turning into a yearly tradition. We picked Galas and Honeycrisps and Mutsus and Jonagolds, plus Fujis and Golden Delicious and Ambrosias, oh my. All twenty pounds of apples have been baked, cooked and consumed. I made six jars of applesauce and it was, bias aside, the best tasting applesauce of my life. Every time I eat a spoonful, I actually take A Moment to enjoy the apple goodness and pray to the cooking gods that I can recreate this perfection next year.



A pie was baked. I am slowly getting the hang of pie crust (I'm quite proud of the edges). The smell of freshly baked apple pie was too tempting and the pie was sliced into before it had the chance to cool, which resulted in major juice leakage. I'm assuming this is the norm and I have learned my lesson for next time.



Other purchases on this outing: two pumpkins (one for carving, one for baking) and a butternut squash. I'm not quite sure when my mom got into the Halloween spirit but she insisted that we buy a pumpkin for decoration. This is coming from a woman who never took me trick-or-treating as a kid, though to be fair, we used to live in an apartment. I still have to turn my pumpkin into pumpkin puree and decide on what to do with it. Pumpkin bread? Pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin cheesecake?



The butternut squash has already been baked and turned into soup. A little thicker than I wanted it to be due to the lentils, but it was warm and filling. 'Tis the season for soup.

Butternut Squash, Red Lentil & Coconut Soup
Adapted from The Food Network

I had homemade vegetable stock in the freezer but store-bought vegetable or chicken stock also works.

1 small butternut squash (about 1.5-2lb)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 leek, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 litre vegetable stock
1 cup red lentils
1/2 cup coconut milk
Sprigs of cilantro for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and stringy center. Oil each half gently with olive oil, put face down on a cookie sheet and bake until tender when pierced with a fork (about 30 minutes).

Meanwhile heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, the onion, carrot, leek, pepper, garlic, curry powder, ginger and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir regularly and sweat for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables soften a bit.

Add stock and bring to a simmer. Add lentils and stir regularly at a simmer for 15 minutes.

When squash is tender, scoop out its flesh and gently mash with a fork. Stir the squash into the soup. Stir the coconut milk into the soup until well incorporated. Taste and correct for seasoning.

Puree the soup using a blender (in 2 or 3 batches) or an immersion blender. Garnish with cilantro and serve.