**Name of soup suggested by Heidi and Michael (a collaboration).

We had an awesome sale on Butternut Squash 2 weeks ago. I’ve been longing for some good Butternut Squash soup, but had been disappointed with recipes I’ve tried in the past. I decided to create my own recipe. Michael says it’s the best soup he’s ever had. It was great as left-overs too! I always find that’s the case with soups. Because they’ve got so much more time for the flavors to blend.

1 Butternut Squash
3 cups Chicken Broth (or water + 2 chicken bullion cubes)
1 can Coconut milk
3 Tbsp. Brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp.red curry powder
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. or less cayenne pepper (I really just did a quick shake of the bottle over the pot, but it was not much)*

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Wash the squash and cut it in half. Lay it open in a baking dish filled with 1/4 inch water. Season with salt and pepper and dab with butter. Cover and bake 40 minutes.

2. Once squash has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and put chunks of squash into the blender. If your blender is like mine, you may have to add some of the chicken broth to make it blend smoother. You will also probably have to puree the squash in batches (2-3). Empty into a soup pot.

3. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Perfect with an autumn ale.

*I enjoy a little spice, and it seemed to fit in quite well with this soup. Still, do it to taste, and remember that Cayenne packs a punch! With the little bit that I added, I couldn’t taste it at first when I was making the soup. But during the meal it came out in just a nice mild heat. Perfect!

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