Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

My hubby surprised me with dinner at California Cafe on my birthday. It was a nice cozy restaurant and the seafood there was fabulous. We also had butternut squash soup which left a great impression on both of us. It was a very simple recipe with saffron, nutmeg and cinnamon. Butternut squash is rich in beta carotene and eating orange and yellow colored vegetables offers protection against cold and flu.

Today, while the cold winds have been roaring outside, we got butternut squash from Safeway on the way back home and I recreated this soup. It takes around 40 minutes to make this and it is a perfect recipe for the cold winter. The verdict- creamy texture, great flavor, yummy and it goes on the once-to-be-tried-every-week list.

Butternut squash

Ingredients
3 cups roughly cubed butter nut squash
1/8th teaspoon cinnamon powder or as desired
1/4 cup tangerine juice or mandarin orange juice or canned tangerine or mandarin orange( I used canned tangerine )
8-10 strands of saffron
2 pinches of nutmeg powder
3 tablespoon thick cream (I used 5 tablespoon reduced fat milk)
2 tablespoon butter
pepper and salt for garnishing

Method
Heat butter in a pan and caramelize the butternut squash till it is light brown on all sides. Don't let it loose its orange colour while caramelizing otherwise the soup may turn brown in color. I cooked it covered it on medium flame for 20 minutes with occasional stirring. Cool it for 10 minutes. Grind it into a smooth paste with the tangerine juice or canned tangerines or mandarin oranges, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder, salt and pepper. Add salt carefully as the butternut squash is very flavorful. Add saffron and get the ground paste to a boil. Add thick cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.