The name is a mouthful, but the soup is delicious enough to warrant the title.

Even though the weather is fluctuating here – one day it is 80 degrees, the next it is raining, no joke – October marks fall to me, which means comforting and labor intensive meals that warm up the kitchen (even if I did wear shorts and tank top to school that day). To me, a labor intensive meal means one that gives me an excuse to break out my dear old food processor, which has become my favorite kitchen tool IN THE WORLD. For reals, if you are on the fence about buying one do it now because I promise you that you will find a least fifty nine different uses for it.

Anyways. This recipe definitely falls under the category of “labor intensive.” I’m just wondering – why do things that require so much work always taste so good?? Cutting the butternut squash up for this soup was STUPIDLY time consuming and difficult. There were some near brushes with my gigantic knife, but I managed to emerge unscathed and I am happy because YUMMMM this was good. Not too sweet, with a little bit of a spicy kick and a surprising crunch from the apple chips, this was anything but a boring soup.

Difficulty level of cutting the squash aside, I can’t emphasize buying whole squash and chopping the whole thing up enough. Don’t buy the precut stuff – I have done that before and it’s just not the same. Plus you look pretty bad ass wrestling that giant squash. You could really make this with any kind of squash/root vegetable combo – I just used what I happened to have, and it worked out great.

Curry Spiced Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup with Apple Chips

Serves WAY MORE THAN I INTENDED….or, about 6

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into uniform dices (don’t forget to get all the nasty out of the butternut squash – probably the worst part)

2 sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into uniform dices

about 2 carrots, washed and diced into uniform pieces

1 sweet onion, peeled and diced

two tablespoons olive oil

curry powder, salt and pepper – as much as you want for coating the veggies

about 4 cups chicken broth – depends on how thick you like your soup. You could also use veggie broth (I would have if I had some)

1 bay leaf

The following are the spices I used in order of most to least – I HATE using measurements for spices because I feel it is more important to taste and adjust as you go

curry powder

nutmeg

paprika

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 apple, cored and sliced thinly into chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Gather the cut up squash, carrots, potatoes and onion and place them on a large baking sheet. Drizzle them in the olive oil, tossing to coat completely. Sprinkle with some curry powder, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Pop in the oven for about 45, turning over half way through. When the vegetables have been roasted, transfer them in very small batches to a food processor, adding about a cup of chicken broth each time. Blend until super smooth, then transfer to a large, deep pot. When all the vegetables have been pureed with the stock and then moved to the pot, heat the mixture until it comes to a boil. Add in the salt, pepper, curry powder, cayenne, nutmeg and bay leaf (TASTE to make sure you like it – adjust as needed), and bring the mixture to a simmer for about 40 minutes. While the soup simmers, arrange the apples on a foil lined baking sheet, and brush with the melted butter. Pop them in the 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until crispy. Mine got a little black. It’s all good. When the soup is done simmering, plate it up, topping it with the apple slices. Enjoy!