One of the only things I like about winter is comfort food. I’m definitely a spring/summer person, but then there is something nice about drawing the curtains, lighting some candles and eating comforting soups and stews. I have not shared a savoury recipe with you before and this is one of my favourites and has been my go to soup to make the last few weeks.

Whilst being on a dairy free diet I found it so hard to find a soup that didn’t have a milk product in it, so if I wanted my soup fix it would have to be homemade, which in all honesty isn’t such a bad thing and I prefer that anyway! At least when you make your own soup you can have whatever herbs and vegetables you want .

This soup is easy peasy you can either battle with peeling and chopping your own squash or to save time you can buy it pre-chopped, something I’ve not done this time but have certainly resorted to in the past!

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 1 butternut squash peeled, deseeded and cut into cubes, place seeds to one side
• 1 medium potato peeled and cut into cubes
• 2 medium carrots peeled and cut into discs
• 1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and then add the onions. Cook them on a medium heat until they are soft and clear. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the vegetable stock and bay leaves and bring to the boil for 5 minutes

Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until veg is soft and starting to fall apart

Remove bay leaves and keep to one side

Blend the soup until smooth, it should be nice and thick

Add the bay leaves back to the soup and season with salt and pepper

Optional Extra

Wash and dry the seeds from the squash, coat lightly with oil and season with salt

Place on an oven tray and roast in a preheated oven (190/180 fan/ 350F) for 20 minutes or until they are browned

Sprinkle over soup or enjoy as a snack!

Serve soup with big chunks of warm crusty bread!

 

Well that’s it I hope you enjoyed my first ‘foodie’ post,  I would like to do more now and then. I don’t know where in the world you are but here it is very cold, grey and frosty today, a perfect day for some warm soup, I will be having a bowl of this for my lunch! The soup should serve 4-6 people, and will freeze well. A good tip is to put it in a zip lock freezer bag, you could do individual portions and it will save space in your freezer. Please let me know if you make it and how you got on with it. I’d love to hear from you!