Roasted butternut squash and honey soup.

It’s DEFINITELY soup season. We were in Paris over the weekend and I had some French onion soup while we were there and wanted to make some soup for lunches this week when we got back. I was going to stick to my usual tomato and basil as it’s my favourite, but thought I should spread my wings a little! Plus, Tesco’s didn’t have any fresh basil when I went so I improvised!I thought I would go for butternut squash as there’s something about the vibrancy that brings warmth to the dish before you’ve even eaten it. I always make soup on the hob so I thought I would roast the veg for this one then add the stock and blitz it up after. Anyone can make soup and it’s a great way to get your daily veg intake without even realising!Prep time – 15 minutes.Cooking time – 1 hour 15 minutes.Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash – remove seeds and skin, cut into large chunks.
• 2 large carrots diced.
• 1 sweet potato diced.
• 2 large brown onions sliced.
• 4 garlic cloves left whole.
• Handful of fresh sage leaves.
• 1 tsp turmeric.
• 1 tbsp curry powder.
• 2 tbsp honey.
• 1 tsp ground ginger.
• 1 tsp ground cumin.
• 1 tsp cumin seeds.
• Salt and pepper.
• 2 bay leaves.
• A few thyme sprigs – just remove before blitzing.
• 1 ltr vegetable stock.
• 100ml single cream.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Put all the veg, herbs and honey in a roasting tin and give it a good stir to mix it up.
2. Cook for 30 minutes, stir the veg again, and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
3. Remove the thyme sprigs and add to a large saucepan along with the stock.
4. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Take the pan off the heat and blitz with a hand blender.
6. Add the cream and stir thoroughly.
7. Serve with fresh bread and garnish with balsamic glaze.

That’s it! Enjoy.