is everyone obsessed with soup, or is it just me? sometimes i feel glad of our how chilly our rubbishy english ‘summers’ are, because it makes year-round soup-eating totally legitimate! this is the easiest, cosiest, sunshiny soup i know, and i really hope you like it :)
p.s. this recipe is based loosely upon one by nigella lawson, the queen of all things delectable! if i remember correctly she adds a kitsch blue cheese swirl to hers, which sounds nothing short of fabulous!
ingredients (serves 3-4):
1 large butternut squash
1 large white onion
approx 1 litre chicken stock (or vegetable stock/bouillon for vegetarians)
olive oil
1. preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius, and boil some water in the kettle for chicken stock.
2. peel and chop the butternut squash into roughly 2inch cubes. place into a roasting dish, drizzle with quite a generous amount of olive (or garlic) oil, and then roast in the oven for about 30mins, or until squash is tender.
3. whilst the squash is roasting, slice the onion and cook in olive oil and a tiny bit of butter until soft and translucent, and make up about a litre of stock.
4. put your cooked squash and onion into a blender with a splash of stock (i have a teeny tiny blender, so do mine in batches) and blitz until smooth.
5. pour the soup out into a saucepan (it will be really thick at this point) and then gradually stir in your stock until the soup is at the consistency you like. you may not need all of the stock. season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve!
n.b. sometimes in winter i add a pinch of chilli powder to the soup, at step 4. it gives really lovely back-of-the-throat warmth, and i’d recommend giving it a go even if (like me!) you’re fairly spice phobic.
