Monday, November 26, 2018

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.





33 comments:

  1. Yum. A generous sprig of fresh rosemary goes well in that soup too.
    Love your Thanksgiving flowers.

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  2. i shall make this soup. i love making soup and one of my recent favourites is broccoli and Stilton (or any blue cheese).. I never liked blue cheese so this amazed me. perhaps you have tried this one/

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    1. I hope you share your recipe one of these days Margaret, it sounds delicious!

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  3. Hello, the soup sounds delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Your bouquet of flowers is beautiful. Have a happy day and a great new week ahead!

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  4. Butternut is our favourite but I will never be convinced that any recipe is better than my South African butternut soup recipe. LOL Take care Diane

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    1. Oh now, you really will share that recipe one of those days won't you Diane? I am intrigued now :)

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  5. The soup looks and sounds lovely and comforting, thanks for sharing! The flowers are so cheerful.

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    1. Thank you Christine, we have just finished the last bowl of soup and it was as good the first time around. Glad you liked the flowers too.

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  6. This is the first year that I haven't made home made soup. It's a lot of work but oh so good. Your soup looks absolutely delicious.

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    1. Hi Red, there can be a lot of work in these soups, but I tend to do mine in stages. I chop veggies as early as I can and then a couple of hours later I complete the steps. Then again I also am happy to open up a can when I am not feeling too energetic :) A nice roll and it is a very satisfying meal.

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  7. love the family foto and the flowers are so beautiful, soup sounds wonderful to

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    1. Thank you Sandra, glad you liked all aspects of my post :)

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  8. Awww … what a beautiful couple … any meal would be tastier when shared with loved ones at the table. However, your menu for the celebrations looks especially scrumptious!

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    1. Thank you Penelope, they are two great young people, though I know I am a bit prejudiced ;)

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  9. Replies
    1. It took me several years to try one of these I must say.

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  10. Our daughter makes butternut squash soup (they grow them) and it is delicious, though She doesn’t use ginger. I will tell her about this. I’m glad you had a lovely TG...and your flowers are beautiful.


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    1. I would love to grow my own Sallie. Maybe I will surprise myself one year :) Thank you so much!

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  11. Your son and daughter-in-law are such a cute couple!! And the centerpiece is stunning!! The soup looks lovely and seasonal.

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    1. Thank you Ginny, they are a couple of dears and a lot of fun to be with. Glad you enjoyed my post :)

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  12. A lovely soup and such gorgeous flowers.

    Lovely to see all of your photographs here.

    All the best Jan

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    1. So glad Jan, thank you and all the best to you too.

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  13. Your table looks lovely, Denise. The soup sure sounds delicious. And you can't go wrong with Mary Berry! I'm glad you enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving. Have nice week ahead. ♥

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    1. Thank you Martha Ellen, Mary has some lovely recipes doesn't she? You have a nice week ahead also.

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  14. Love that photo of your kids! Cute! Glad you had success with the soup and enjoyed time together.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ellen, two sweet and kind people I am so proud of.

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  15. That's good to hear Linda, sometimes a quiet day is perfect and that lasagna sounds wonderful!

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  16. Butternut squash is one of our favorites and I have also added ginger. A nice photo of your son and daughter-in-law about to enjoy that soup too. And, those flowers are perfect colors for the holiday celebration. Looks like you had a wonderful time with family and friends, Denise.

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    1. Thank you Dorothy, it was a lovely Thanksgiving.

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  17. My husband makes Butternut Soup!

    Lovely centerpiece.

    We have Thanksgiving Dinner next door, at younger son's home. Their 20 year old daughter, brought her room mate home for the holiday. She is from Pakistan, and has never celebrated an American Thanksgiving. She bought my daughter-in-law a lovely center piece for the table.

    Before they went back to college, the family went to get their fresh cut Christmas Tree, at the Christmas Tree Farm... A family tradition, dating back to when we were a young family. So, the girl got to experience another American tradition. :-)

    🎄✨🎄

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    1. Thank you and this was the first time I had butternut squash soup. I am now a fan. How lovely that your son lives next door and that you celebrated Thanksgiving there. It must have been wonderful for your daughter's room mate to experience this, and thoughtful of her to give a center piece for the table. I remember my first Thanksgiving in the States, it was rather magical. Very special to be treated to another tradition, that of getting the Christmas Tree right after. Now your daughter's friend has this very special memory of her first Thanksgiving with a loving family. Doesn't get any better than that. Loved this story, thank you :)

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