Curried Carrot & Butternut Squash Soup

Soup is good food.

Recently I purchased an Instant Pot. I wasn’t sure I needed another kitchen gadget, but I am glad that I went ahead with this purchase. If you don’t have one, you might want to think about it.

Here are the reasons that I would buy an Instant Pot:

1. Cook dry beans in less than 30 minutes.
2. Make batches of soups and stews easily.
3. Speed up cooking time.

Reasons why I wouldn’t buy an Instant Pot:

1. I have enough kitchen gadgets, like a crock pot and rice cooker.
2. I eat more fresh or steamed vegetables than cooked.
3. I have lots of time to cook.

This might seem like I am pro Instant Pot and I am. The ability to decide what to cook at the last minute and be able to have cooked beans in 30 minutes is worth it without any other benefit for me. Every recipe I have can also be made without an Instant Pot, it just takes a little longer and a little more planning. 

Friday night was a great example of the benefits of having an Instant Pot. At 5:10 PM I looked in the fridge and thought, “What will I make for dinner?” The response was something with Butternut Squash since I had one in the fridge that was looking close to past its prime. 

I thought I will make soup! It is freezing cold here right now and soup sounded warm and comforting. The result is the following recipe.

Curried Carrot & Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup dried white beans (kidney, cannellini etc)
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 4 carrots
• Fresh sage or 1 tsp dried
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin
• fresh ground pepper 
• 4 cups of water or vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp Patak’s Hot Curry Paste

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350. Slice squash into quarters, scoop out seeds and brush insides with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until soft.

While squash is cooking add beans to Instant Pot cover with 6 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. When beans are cooked, release pressure and drain beans. Turn Instant Pot on to Sauté and add enough oil to coat bottom and mix onion, garlic, carrots, and spices, except for curry paste, for 2-3 minutes or until onions have become translucent. 

Remove squash from oven and peel off the outer skin and add to Instant Pot. Add water or vegetable stock, 2 cups of cooked beans and cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes.

Then pour soup into a covered pot or covered bowl, add curry paste and puree with hand immersion blender. You might be able to puree in the Instant Pot, but I am the master of breaking things so I didn’t think it would be wise to push my luck.

You can get your own by clicking the images below.

 

Enjoy!

Shayla