Butternut Apple Coconut Soup

I do not like it with meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  I do not like it as pie, even if you smother it with whipped cream.  I do not like it covered in melted butter and brown sugar.

I do not like squash.  Any sort of squash.  Buttercup, butternut, acorn, spaghetti.  Blech.

But I do like squash soup.  Go figure.

After being confronted with a box full of butternut squash from my garden I knew I either had to give it all away or find a good recipe for something that I could stomach.  I had originally planted it because my parents both love squash, but after they took what they wanted to deal with I still had some left. I tried squash and apple bread; it was okay, but I didn't love it, although my parents and their neighbors sure did.  Next I thought I'd try some soup since I had tried a bite of someone else's squash soup in a restaurant once and kinda took a liking to it.  I went to my favorite recipe sites and printed off four of the highest rated recipes, then morphed them into my own. 

And my kid ate it.  I take that back, he stole all of mine.  We have a rule that he has to try just a bite of everything new I make, even if he thinks he will hate it.  When his big blue eyes get big I know I have a success.  He ended up stealing away with the whole bowl.  Turkey.

Butternut Apple Coconut Soup                                (Printable Version)

2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

2 medium white or sweet onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Olive Oil

2 medium apples, peeled, seeded, and diced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Two cans chicken or vegetable broth

One can coconut milk

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

Additional salt and pepper to taste

One medium apple, finely diced, for garnish

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix the squash, onions, and garlic together in a large bowl and spread out onto two jelly roll pans lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and sprinkle the cubed apple evenly over each pan. Return the pans to the oven and roast an additional 15 minutes until all the ingredients are tender and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

When cool, scrape the mixture into a blender or food processor, being sure to scrape up all of the good browned bits and the olive oil from the bottom of the pans.  Process until smooth. Pour into a large soup pot set over medium heat.  Add two cans of broth and one can of coconut milk. Add the thyme, bay leaf, and additional salt and pepper and bring to a simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Ladle into a bowl and top with finely diced apple, if desired.