Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This is a great winter warmer! Butternut squash soup is a favourite at this time of year and just in time to use up any Halloween leftovers.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, approx. 1 kg (peeled + deseeded)
• Olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed in their skins
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 500ml of vegetable stock
• 200ml of oat milk

Basil Pesto topping:

• A large handful of basil
• 1/2 clove of garlic, peeled
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Small handful of pine nuts
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

This is super easy and follows pretty much the standard soup recipe. You can substitute in other veggies – peppers / tomatoes etc. All roasted veggies work well!

1. Heat the oven to 180°C fan, 200°C static and roast the butternut squash in the oven for around 30 minutes until it is going crispy on the edges and soft when prodded with a knife.

2. Remove the squash from the oven and take the skins off the garlic – they should be gently roasted. Tip everything into a large pan. Add the boiling stock over the top and bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then blitz with a stick blender until it’s smooth-ish. If you want it really smooth, use a liquidizer – we have a Wolf Gourmet one which is the absolute best in the business and very very powerful.

3. Season the soup with salt and pepper, and keep warm over a gentle heat. Add the oat milk – this is not essential, and you could add more stock instead. A little sprinkle of chilli flakes adds just enough heat if needed.

4. In a small processor, blitz the topping ingredients together.

5. Ladle the soup into bowls and add a swirl of the basil pesto and a few little leaves if you have them.