Inventing Recipes: Curried Squash and Carrot Soup

For as much as I love cooking, I'm surprised I've never posted anything on here about it. Partly, I suppose that's because I do so much less of it these days. Cooking for one is a pain in the butt if you don't much like (or have storage space for) leftovers. I also just don't get nearly as much joy from eating the food I make as I do from cooking it. It's kind of like with programming. The joy, for me, is in toying with something until I've come up with what I'm looking for. As such, I much prefer cooking for other people, and last Sunday provided a solid opportunity.

One of my former housemates and his wife have been coming over each week to watch the new season of Dexter. Last week, they offered to bring over some leftovers from their CSA share so that we could do dinner at the same time. They pledged a large winter squash along with several carrots and onions to the cause, and my mind immediately went to soup. Curry was the next thing that came to mind, and, once a quick Google search showed that this was not an unheard of combination, I ran to the store to pick up what I thought we might need. The result was, approximately, this (all measurements are guesses, sorry) :

Ingredients
1 Large-ish (3-4 lb) Winter Squash*
3-4 Large Carrots
2 Yellow Onions
1 1.5 inch Piece of Ginger
2-3 Cloves Garlic
1.5 Tbsp Garam Masala
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
3 Tbsp Cider Vinegar (or Lemon Juice)
6 Cups Vegetable Stock
Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Additional Heavy Cream for serving (~1.5 Tbsp per bowl)

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425. Split your squash in half, remove the seeds, and place it, cut side down, on a baking sheet with about a centimeter of water. Roast for half an our or until the meat readily separates.

2. Slice carrots and ginger relatively thin. Dice onion. Add to a large pot, warmed to medium heat along with the olive oil. Allow to sweat, stirring occasionally, until squash is finished.

3. Remove the squash from the oven and scoop out the flesh into the pot. Add remaining ingredients (minus the cream) and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes over medium high heat.

4. Puree the soup, either with an immersion blender or in batches in a traditional blender, and allow to cook covered over medium low heat for another 15 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.

5. Add additional seasoning to taste and serve, drizzling in cream as desired.

In all, it turned out well enough that there was a fight for what few leftovers remained. Definitely a recipe I'll revisit and tinker with the next time I've got people around to eat it.

*I'm not sure what sort of squash we used, it's not one I'm familiar with. A small-ish pumpkin or a couple of mid-sized acorn or butternut squashes would do the trick.