Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

When I was peering through my Barefoot Contessa cookbook to make the Lemon Cake, I saw her recipe for Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. Years ago, when Andy and I were first married, he made a version of this soup, but it was a Martha Stewart recipe. He just adored the soup. But we've been unable to locate the exact recipe since then. I'm still hunting around for it. But many of Ina Garten's recipes are so similar to Martha's, so I wondered if this soup might come close. One thing to note about this soup...it calls for curry powder, and I'm not a big curry powder fan. But, I have to say that it works in this soup. It provides that nice note of spice that the sweetness of the apples and squash needs in order to balance the soup.

It's not Martha's soup, but it's quite good. I'll still be out there hunting for the exact recipe he used, but until then, I might use this recipe as a substitute. I served this soup with AB's Southern Buttermilk Biscuits.

**I halved this recipe and made 2 quarts of soup.**

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (via Ina Garten)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice

1. Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

2. Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

3. Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. **I used an immersion blender here.**

4. Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.