butternut squash and shrimp chowder

1 large butternut squash
2 tblsp butter
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tblsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 tblsp shrimp paste
1 tsp curry powder (I used medium)
1 tblsp old bay seasoning
1 tblsp chopped parsley (optional)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
1 1/3 pounds of shrimp, shelled, cooked, tails removed
1 roasted red pepper, diced


First turn on the broiler and roast the red pepper, turning as the skin
blackens. While you are doing this, get the squash ready. cut the
squash in half lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds. put the squash
in a deep pan with about 1/4 cup of water, cover with tin foil.
when the pepper is done roasting, remove it from the oven to cool. set
the oven to 350 and put the squash in for 45 minutes. remove to cool.
you can do these steps the day before and put the squash and pepper in
the fridge to cool.

in a heavy soup pot, melt the butter and add the garlic, onion, celery
and basil and saute until the onions are translucent. i dont like to
let this go really long, since i kind of like still having a bit of bite
to the celery, so i dont let it cook to the point that it could get too
soft.

in another bowl, combine the cream and milk with the shrimp paste, curry
powder, parsley (if using), old bay seasoning, pepper, salt and shrimp.
mix well and add to the ingredients in the pot.

remove the skin from the red pepper and dice it up and add to the pot.
dice up the butternut squash too. i usually keep about half of it as a
dice and then mash the other half with a fork - that way when it
combines with the soup it gets nice and thick. add the squash and
pepper to the soup. heat it up and you are done.

it just barely has to boil, or not even. in the recipe they say to only
bring it to 180F (82 C) which isnt quite boiling.

for the shrimp paste, you can buy that at any decent asian grocery
store.

if you cant find old bay seasoning, i have seen it at lapointes and at
T&T supermarket.
or you can go online and find out how to make it yourself by combining
all the ingredients together (i think buying it is cheaper iirc).

for the shrimp, i use about a package of 51/60 count shrimp, and then to
make up the extra 1/3 pound, i use a bigger shrimp, like a 31/40 count
or something. the bigger ones are nice.

for the milk, i usually only have 1% in the fridge, so i use 1 cup milk
and 1 cup cream instead of the mix listed. i also find with a large
squash the soup gets too thick with the amount of liquids listed so i
tend to eyeball an extra amount of milk to get it to the right
consistency. getting this right will depend on how big the butternut
squash you are using is. note when you reheat the leftovers of this the
squash chunks tend to break down and make the soup really thick - still
tastes good though.

note, this is a low carb recipe!