Thanksgiving is coming and in an effort to not feel too much like huge pigs, each year we try to eat pretty light during the days leading up to the big event. Some years we are more successful at it than others, but when this spicy and flavorful butternut squash soup is on the pre-game menu, we have a shot at staying on the wagon until Thursday evening.

There is no set recipe for this soup and I can only offer guidelines based on how I like to make it. You can’t really go wrong if you start with a very fresh, local butternut squash of medium size (will feed 4 as part of a meal, 2 as the meal itself). Peel, seed, and chop the squash into pieces that are roughly 1 1/2 inches.

The sort-of -secret ingredient in this soup is apples – for this recipe I use two of the Macintosh variety, peeled, cored, and chopped into eighths.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the squash. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until you notice that it has gotten soft enough to mash with a fork. At this point, add the apples and simmer for an additional three minutes. Remove from the heat and strain.

Puree the squash and apples in a food processor or blender until they are completely creamy and smooth with absolutely no lumps.

Once the mixture is smooth, dump the contents of the food processor into a large saucepan and add a cup of vegetable stock – homemade or store bought will both work here.

Once the stock is stirred in, begin to add curry to the soup, a little bit at a time. I used a Tikka Masala blend that I got from an Indian grocery, but red Thai curry would also work fine here. Slowly add spice and then taste, stopping when it has reached your desired level of spice.

Once the soup is spicy to your liking, add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Also, you may choose to add a tablespoon of butter, although I thought it was just fine without it.

Stir and simmer for a few more minutes, then taste again and add more seasoning if needed. Spoon the soup into bowls and add a pinch of nutmeg to the top for presentation and aroma. This soup is perfectly complimented by a multi-grain roll or piece of sourdough toast.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium to large sized butternut squash

2 Macintosh apples – the food, not the computer

1 cup vegetable stock

approx 2 tablespoons Thai red curry or other curry (red colors are recommended for presentation)

salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Pinches of nutmeg (optional)