Butternut Squash Soup

 “This recipe is based on a delicious soup from Tom’s Kitchen, a restaurant run by top London chef Tom Aikens. His version had chicken stock, which you could use too, but the version here is vegetarian.” ~ Easy Comfort Food cookbook

Pumpkin Soup with Honey & Sage

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

75g unsalted butter

1 small to medium onion, roughly chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled & crushed

1 kg pumpkin or butternut squash, de-seeded, peeled & cut into cubes

*1 medium potato, peeled & roughly chopped (optional)

2 heaped Tbsp clear honey

3-5 sprigs of sage

750ml veg. stock

75ml double cream

lemon juice, salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

crisp-fried sage leaves and crusty bread, to serve

1.     Gently melt the butter in a large lidded saucepan or casserole. Add the onion, garlic and carrot, stir, cover and cook over LOW heat for about 4-5 minutes.

2.     Add the cubed pumpkin or squash, potato, honey and sage, stir, replace the lid and continue to cook very gently for about 10 min.

3.     Pour in the stock, bring to boil, and cook for about 10 min until the vegetables are soft. Turn off the heat and leave the soup to cool slightly then remove the sage.

4.     In batches, put cooked vegetables into a blender or food processor with just enough of the reserved cooking liquid to blend into a smooth puree. Transfer to a clean pan (I just used a big bowl to hold the blended stuff before putting it all back into the same pan). Whizz the remaining liquid in the blender to pick up the last bits of puree and add that too. Bring the soup slowly to a boil then stir in the cream without boiling further.

5.     Season to taste with about 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp salt, and black pepper. Serve with an extra swirl of cream or scatter some crisp-fried sage leaves on top and serve with crusty wholewheat or multi-grain bread.