Prep Time 10 minutes - Total 1 hour - Serves 4
Soup is brilliant any time of the year. But it just seems to taste a lot better when them summer days start to dwindle away, and the dark nights start to creep in.
And I don’t think there is anything more comforting than sitting indoors looking out at the rain with a big bowl of soup and some rustic bread which is smothered in butter. That is one of life‘s simple pleasures.
(You will also find this recipe on page 130 of my book Richard’s Family Favourites click here)
Ingredients
1 large butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise.
1 large red onion, roughly chopped.
Chilli flakes, to taste.
1 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves.
1 tsp of smoked paprika.
2 tbsps of olive oil.
1 litre of chicken stock.
1 knob of butter.
Method
In a large roasting tray pour the oil along with the chilli flakes, smoked paprika, season and mix to make a paste. Take the butternut squash and roll in the paste to coat. Place cut side up and roast in a preheated oven set at 180℃ for 60-90 minutes depending on the size or till nice and tender. Once done place to one side to cool.
Once the butternut squash is out of the oven start to fry the onions along with the thyme, seasoning in a drizzle of oil. Cook over a low to medium heat for 10 - 15 minutes or till the onions are nice and soft.
By the time the onions and thyme are cooked, the squash should be cool enough to handle. Using a spoon take out the seeds, then scrape out all the beautiful flesh from inside and add to the pan with the onions and give it all a good mix together.
Now that everything is cooked put the mixture into a food blender (you may have to do this in batches) with the knob of butter and add the stock a little at a time and give it a good whiz. I like to make it into a purée first, that’s why I don’t add all the stock at once. Then I gradually add the stock until I reach the consistency that I’m looking for. I like it so the soup just coat’s the back of a spoon but you add as much stock as you like to make it to your taste. Or if you don’t have a food blender you can do this in the pan using a hand stick blender.
Once you are happy with the soup consistency check the seasoning and adjust accordingly, at this point if it needs pepper use white so you don’t get little black dots in your bright orange soup.
To serve I like to garnish mine with a sprinkling of extra thyme leaves, some chilli flakes and also the roasted butternut squash seeds. If you like you could also add a drizzle of double cream, but whatever you do make sure you have lots of bread and butter.