MONDAY FOOD POST - BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful  weekend.  Those of us who celebrated Thanksgiving last week with friends and family, I hope it was a great one.   

Ours was very enjoyable, and we spent it with our son and daughter-in-law and a dear friend.  A small group this year and a joyful one, with lots to be thankful for.  For our special meal I decided to start off with a butternut squash soup.  

A friend told me that she hadn't long ago tried this soup with ginger, and that it was very nice.  I did a search on line and saw that Mary Berry, of Great British Bake-Off fame, had a recipe which included ginger.  Above you can see our son and daughter-in-law about to enjoy the soup.  They both said it was delicious, we thought so too.

Mary Berry's Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 8

Vegetarian and dairy free

You can view the original recipe here.

European and American conversions were used, so I have left those in for any overseas blogging friends.  

You will need a large 7 pint/3.5-4 litre deep-sided saucepan.  

Preparation time: less than 30 minutes.  Cooking time: 30 minutes to 1 hour 

3 lbs. 5 ozs/1.5 kg of peeled and deseeded butternut squash, cut into 1-1/4 inch cubes 

1 large onion, roughly chopped 

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped 

1 sweet red pepper, deseeded and cut into cubes 

4 tablespoons of olive oil 

1 tablespoon of honey, optional 

2 inch/5cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped 

2-1/2 pints (5 cups)/1.5 litres vegetable stock 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit/ 200C/

180C Fan/Gas 6.

Place the prepared squash into a large resealable freezer bag with the onion, carrots and red pepper.

Add half the oil and salt and pepper, and toss everything until the vegetables are evenly coated. 

(My gallon bags were too small for all the ingredients, so I split these them up between two bags.  Next time I will just put everything into a big bowl, pour the oil over the top and mix thoroughly in the bowl.  The bags were an easy solution to mixing though.  I also had to use two pans for roasting, but I swapped them in the middle of cooking time to ensure even roasting).

Put everything into a large roasting pan and spread out to form a single layer.

Roast in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned.  

Drizzle with the honey if using, 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Now get the large deep-sided pan you are using next, place on the stove burner and turn to medium-hot. Add the remaining olive oil and when hot, add the ginger and cook for one minute.  

Pour in the stock and bring to a boil.  Add carefully the roasted vegetables, salt and pepper. 

Remove the saucepan from the heat and, using a hand blender (I used an emersion blender), blend the mixture until smooth, or to taste.  

Return to the heat to warm through and serve hot with crusty bread.

If covered and chilled in the fridge, this dish can be made up to 3 days ahead.

If  stored in a freezer-proof bag or container, this soup freezes well up to 3 months.

Ready-prepared butternut squash can be found in your produce section at the supermarket (this is what I used).  

If you are using your own home grown squash, they are easier to peel.

If taking from the fridge reheat in pot on medium heat until nice and hot.  

Same thing if you have frozen it, except take the soup out the night before to thaw in fridge.

A small spoon of sour cream, cream fraiche or plain Greek yogurt goes nicely on the top of this soup.

Now a favorite soup and will be made again.

 I enjoyed these special Thanksgiving flowers.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by.