So, here at HCX we know the value of a warm meal now that the nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping.
Soup glorious soup is the answer. It’s tasty, you can eat a whole loaf of bread with one bowl and not feel guilty, plus it’s freezable so you can bring it out when you can’t be bothered to make anything else.
Now, one Wednesday afternoon, my flatmate Lucy and I decided we would take the time to chop, roast and simmer some butternut squash and pepper and make a soup…
Ingredients:
· A butternut squash, they’re a bit of a nightmare to cut up, so find someone with a hefty knife.
· However many red peppers you can get your hands on, no more than 3 though really
· A veggie stock cube
· A litre of water
· Olive oil
· Salt and pepper
· Garlic clove, up to you.
Method:
Chop up your veggies into decent size chunks (butternut squash into sort of large new potato size cubes) and spread them onto an oven tray with the garlic clove, if you’re putting one in, and drizzle a good few glugs of oil over them. Then roast them in the oven at about 200°C for 30-40 minutes until they’re soft.
Put the veg into a big ol’ stock pot (don’t lose the oil, chuck that in too) with the water and crumble the stock cube over the top and then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Blend! We found we had too much to do all in one go so make sure you have another large pot or bowl to put the first bout into. As you’re putting it in the blender, try to get a good mix of veg and liquid in each lot.
Pop it back on the heat to simmer for an hour and a half and season with salt and pepper to taste. Then you’re good to go. We found it made about 4 big dinner portions or 8 lunch time bowls. And considering the ingredients were relatively cheap, it’s a win-win. It did take up most of our afternoon, but if you’ve got some work to be getting on with while it’s simmering then it’s perfect.