Try This: Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

If there ever was "fall" in a soup, the Barefoot Contessa's Butternut Squash & Apple Soup would be it. Especially when you drink it with a pumpkin beer. I might as well be rolling around in a big pile of leaves right now. Oh wait, there are no big piles of leaves here in LA. Only in my dreams.

We had our regular Sunday trip to the Hollywood Farmers' Market today, and the multitude of butternut squash were screaming to be plucked for my soup. And I couldn't resist. This recipe is so yummy and flavorful with lots of spice from the curry.

I should warn you, though, that there is a fair amount of slicing, dicing and peeling with this recipe. Thus, the reason for it being a Sunday favorite (when I tend to spend more time cooking than on week nights). Tonight, I almost decapitated my pointer finger while imaging myself in a QuickFire challenge on Top Chef and jammed a small piece of squash into my thumbnail. Ouch. So, it's not for the faint of cutting. My big secret is that if you don't want to deal with cutting and peeling of a butternut squash, you can buy packages of peeled, pre-cut squash from Trader Joe's. Also, I am lazy and do not peel the apples. We all could use a little more fiber, right?

We usually garnish our soup with a dollop of non-fat yogurt, so you get the same effect as you would with sour cream but with fewer calories. We also like to add a little cilantro.

We fed this to our daughter when she was six months old, and she absolutely loved it. If you do make this for your babe, you may want to consider using a smaller amount of curry. My daughter was fine with the amount, but some babies may be more sensitive. The recipe makes quite a bit and freezes well. You can freeze it into ice cubes for baby food.