Butternut squash with lentil soup

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I have heard some people say that they are just not into soups...I have to admit I cannot even imagine not having soup.  I love soups and could happily have them everyday if possible but especially during fall and winter. There is something so satisfying about having hot and hearty soups on cold evenings. 

I have never used butternut squash in my cooking and on my last trip to the grocery store I decided to get some and try it in a soup. I just made this soup up as I went along and added red lentils to make it more filling. I also added some rasam powder to give the soup a kind of Indian touch and liked the taste of the soup. The slight bit of spice and the sweetness of the squash provided an interesting contrast in taste.

For more information about butternut squash and for its other names check here  

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make Butternut squash with lentil soup.

1 large leek (yielded about 2 1/2 cups of cut leek)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

3 1/2 cups of butternut squash (peeled ,seeded and cut into one inch pieces)

1/2 cup whole red lentils (Masoor dhal )

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

3/4 tsp rasam powder ( or 1/2 tsp garam masala or any other curry powder)

salt to taste

4 cups water ( or as required to achieve consistency of choice)

Wash and drain whole lentils and keep aside 

Heat a large heavy bottomed pan and add olive oil to it.

Add cut leek and saute until the leek is transparent.

Add the cut pieces of butternut squash and lentils,all the spices and water and let it simmer until the lentils and butternut pieces are cooked.

Serve hot with crushed pepper on top if you like and have it with bread or cornbread

Serves about 4

Notes:

This soup can be pureed after the squash is cooked and served that way too. The only reason I did not do that was because I wanted to have a chunky type soup this time.

For a variation in taste you could add ground ginger according to taste to this along with the minced garlic too.

Instead of butternut squash you could use pumpkin instead in this soup.

This is my entry into the Original Recipe Event  being hosted by Lore

Since this is a very low fat soup and ideal for people who are on a diet this is also my entry into the Diet Foods event  being hosted by Divya.

This is also my entry into My Legume Love affair being hosted by Sra this month,originally started by Susan

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