Recipe : Butternut Squash Soup (Vegan Option Possible)

Now that we are officially in Autumn here in London, there are lovely squashes and pumpkins appearing in the market. I normally just roast them as a side with dinner, but with today's rain, I decided that what I wanted was a nice hearty soup.

I've garnished the soup with a bit of San Danielle prosciutto and Grana Padano Cheese for flavour, but that's completely optional. Without the cheese / prosciutto / bacon garnish, the dish is vegan.

Ingredients :

1 Butternut squash (about 1kg) - peeled, deseeded, chopped
2 red onions chopped large
6 garlic cloves halved
1 small - medium potato - skinned and chopped
4 - 5 red chillies (you can deseed them, if you don't want it spicy)
1.25 litres stock (chicken or vegetable)
2-3 pinches of rosemary (less if using the dried version)

Salt to taste

Garnish Options :

Use any combination you like, but don't use more than three

2 strips of prosciutto / bacon - the fattier the better 
A few slivers of cheese

Chives - chopped
Fresh cream
Extra Virgin Olive oil or a seed oil

Chilli Flakes

Roasted nuts

Method:
Take a large heavy bottom soup dish and heat it.
Crisp up the 2 bacon slices if using. (Prosciutto is used - as is)
Remove the bacon and let the oil remain in the pan.
Crumble the crisped bacon.

If not using bacon, add a little olive oil to the pan.

Fry the squash, potato, onions and garlic on low heat till they start to char a bit.

(You can roast them in an oven too if that is easier for you)

If you do not have a stick blender, cool the vegetables and puree them in a food processor / mixi with the chillies and rosemary.
Heat the stock in the same pan and slowly add the pureed mixture back to the pan, stirring well.

If you have a stick blender, add the stock to the vegetables.
Add the chillies and rosemary.
Give it a good boil.
Use a stick blender to puree the mixture.

Bring to a boil and cook well.

You can add a little cream or a melting cheese at this point, if you want to make the soup richer.

Serve in bowls, with your choice of garnish.

Freshly crumbled crispy bacon adds fantastic taste and texture.

Roasted nuts will givea good balance of texture too.

The chillies gave just the right amount of kick to elevate the sweetness of this soup.

The rosemary and chives worked well together. Don't overdo the rosemary as it can be quite a powerful flavour, you just want hints of it in the soup.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe in Delicious Magazine.

Without the bacon or cream, this is also a good soup to have on the GM diet.

Serve it with some bread, if you want to make a whole meal out of it.