Winter warming Butternut Squash soup!

Not so long ago I wrote a blog saying winter is round the corner, and guess what winter is almost here.. the part of England I am in right now Autumn feels like winter its been cold and breezy last few days.. but just the kind of weather when you feel like eating a hot meal :-) We went to a food festival last week where I found a stall for organic veg found a lovely butter nut squash.. I have been thinking about it for a week, how could I put it to best use. Butternut squash is very creamy so works up a treat in soups, with that in mind I thought it wasn't a bad idea to roast the squash along with a few bits and pieces to give it a lift. Roasting vegetables with some spices on a cold morning is the most heart warming feeling. The sweet scent of roasting and warmth of the oven makes kitchen a sunday morning more special. I went through my Sunday morning routine of turning on the radio to listen to some nice music they play early morning, brewing coffee, sit down with the coffee for a long chat with my family and then crack on with the recipe I have been cooking up in my head :-) So here is your list of ingredients if you would like to try making this yourself:

1. 1 medium size butternut squash
2. 4 - 5 fat cloves of garlic
3. 1 medium size red onion
4. 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5. a good pinch of fennel seeds
6. 1 tbl spoon crunchy peanut butter
7. a good pinch of cumin seeds
8. a pinch of paprika
9. pinch of nutmeg
10. 2 cloves
11. good pinch of freshly crushed black pepper
12. 10-12 mint leaves
13. 1 teaspoon soft muscavado sugar or a piece of jaggery
14. Olive oil enough to drizzle over the veggies about a tbl spoon.
15. Salt to taste - I use rock salt while roasting, but any salt is fine.

Lets get roasting :-)

1. Turn up the over to degrees Celsius (fan) or 200 degrees C without fan
2. Prepare the squash. Remove the skin and seeds and cut the quash in equal size wedges, that helps the squash cook evenly.
3. Scatter the squash pieces in a roasting tin, dot the garlic cloves with skin on, this will cook the garlic within the skin and taste sweet with a mild garlic flavour.
4. Cut the onion in 4 pieces with skin on and tuck them in the roasting tin, this will caramelise the onion and render a sweet taste.
5. Sprinkle the fennel seeds, cloves, pepper, salt, tuck rosemary springs under the squash.
6. Drizzle the olive oil and give everything a nice toss. Spread everything evenly in one layer, so that everything will cook evenly.
7. Put the roasting tin in the oven and roast for 40 mins.

To make the soup:

1. Let the veggies cool down a little, squeeze the garlic out of its skin. 
2. Get rid of the onion skin, cloves and rosemary, they have done their job of spicing up the squash.
3. Transfer them to the blender, be very careful, if you are impatient like me :) if you have not let the vegetables cool they will be piping hot.
4. Blend the squash, garlic, onion adding little water as you go along. Blend it till its nice and creamy.
5. Heat up some oil in a deep pan, add cumin seeds and paprika. Transfer the soup from the blender to the pan and let it come to a boil. Add water if you would like thin soup. I leave it thick and creamy. 
6. Add the sugar and check salt add if necessary. Grate a pinch of nutmeg and bring it to a boil.
7. Chop the mint leaves finely and add to the soup stir in and turn the heat off.
8. You can serve the soup as is or with a dollop of sour cream of yogurt.

There is hardly any cooking involved but this soup is hearty makes a very good meal when teamed up with a nice piece of bread :-)

Bon Appétit!!!