I have been struggling to figure out the best way to cut butternut squash in cube size pieces. The pain and effort of digging the knife into its hard skin and bruising myself, I always end up with squash always ageing in my fridge.
Last week I thought to make a curry and then on a second thought decided to go for a soup.
So this is probably the easiest soup in the world. With a bit of effort of course. The key is to roast the butternut squash well. And adding the garlic along adds such a punch of flavour. Now any soup including this one can be made luxurious or be left with a skinny version.
To add a touch of luxury, add cream. Or leave it to keep it healthier.
Now I chose a middle path and that’s the trick in this recipe. I added a tablespoon of whipped light cream cheese. This gave it the much needed body, sheen and a wonderful taste. So here are the steps for this easy peasy healthy and tasty soup.
Ingredients
- Butternut squash, about half or full, depends on the quantity of soup you want to prepare. I used a full squash which weighed around 0.7 kg
- 1 medium red onion
- 3 medium cloves of garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive oil
- Cream cheese (optional)
- Roasted chilli flakes, chives, parsley, coriander, truffle oil and Parmesan for garnish
Method
- Peel and cut the butternut squash in medium sized cubes. Peel onion and chop roughly.
- In a roasting tin place the squash, onion and cubes of garlic unpeeled. Just smash the garlic a bit to release its aroma. Drizzle some olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Give it a mix for the oil to coat all the pieces.
- Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for about 25-30 minutes. When done I increased the temperature a bit high to about 220 C or switch on the grill mode for 5 min for a bit of charring. You can totally omit it if already well roasted and you like it this way.
- Transfer the contents to a mixer or in a jar using a hand blender blitz to a puree consistency. Transfer back to a pan on heat.
- Add some boiling water to thin down the consistency and give a quick boil. You can omit if you like chunky soup. At this stage you can add cream if you wish. I whipped a tablespoon of light cream cheese and added to the soup and mixed well. Season with salt and pepper again.
- Serve in soup mugs and add roasted chilli flakes, parmesan, chives or coriander or parsley. Enjoy with crusty bread or just gulp it down.
