Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander seeds
½ teaspoon ground red chilli
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 large butternut squash
(to make toasted squash seeds, simply scrape out the seeds, scatter a pinch of salt over, place them on a baking tray and bake in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes until they are starting to brown – when they cool they should be crunchy)
500ml veg or chicken stock (can be made by dissolving 2 stock cubes in hot water)
1 tin coconut milk
Method
- Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until it is soft but not changing colour.
- While the onion is cooking measure out the spices, and add them to the softened onions, frying briefly so that they start to give off a nice aroma, but take them off the heat before they start to burn.
- Peel, deseed and chop the butternut squash into small cubes. Add the cubes of squash to the cooked spices and stir to coat.
- Then add the stock – it should be enough to cover the vegetables, but if not add a bit more boiling water or stock.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender.
- When the vegetables are cooked, stir in the coconut milk, and then use an immersion blender to liquidise the soup until it is completely smooth.
- Taste, and season with salt and black pepper as needed.
- Serve with a swirl of cream or coconut milk, and a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds.