Butternut Squash Soup

What could be better than a steaming, hot bowl of sweet, rich butternut squash soup topped with salty, crispy bacon bits?

Butternut squash soup
1 whole butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
6 strips of bacon, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp. curry powder
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup milk or cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a pot, fry bacon until it renders its fat. Reserve bacon bits and remove all but 1 tbsp. of the bacon fat.
2. Saute onion and carrots.
3. Deglaze pan with chicken broth.
4. Add the squash, nutmeg, curry powder and bay leaf.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until squash and carrots are tender.
6. Puree with a hand blender (or use a real blender or food processor).
7. Add milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve topped with bacon bits.

I love making this for dinner and bringing the left-overs for lunch the next day. It's also a great way of getting the boys to eat more veggies. It's true the bacon makes it slightly evil, but it's definitely worth it! :-)