Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Curry Condiments

This was an excellent if not particularly memorable vegetable soup. She must have some sort of secret, however, because the one in her picture is a vibrant reddish color, and mine always turns out to be sort of muddy. Possibly the type of curry powder she uses is more red than mine? Some of my onions got quite black in the course of roasted, too, which may have been more caramel than intended. Possibly my different method of preparation is to blame -- since I don't have a food mill, I put the vegetables into the broth and used my immersion blender to whirl it all up.

Regardless of its looks, the soup tasted great, and you can hardly beat it for easy preparation. I made this to serve with her Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts on a cold, cold January day when we had lunch guests. I did not do the condiments. I hate coconut, and banana on a soup is too weird for me.

She has taken to specifying "good" in her ingredients lists, as in "good olive oil" and "good curry powder." I'm ignoring that in my transcriptions because, well... duh. What, are you going to use bad ingredients?

3-4 lb butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 yellow onions
2 MacIntosh apples, peeled and cored
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-4 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp curry powder
For serving: Scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and sliced diagonally; flaked sweetened coconut, lightly toasted; roasted salted cashews, toasted and chopped; diced banana

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Cut the squash, onions, and apples into 1-inch cubes. Toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Divide between two sheet pans and spread into a single layer. Roast for 35-45 minutes, until very tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done, put them through a food mill fitted with a medium blade.
4. Place the vegetables in a large pot and add enough stock to make a thick soup. Add curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. 
5. Serve hot with condiments.

Serves 4-6