I’ve just made a really brilliant soup so I’m writing it down while I remember what I did. It makes a lot so you can alter the quantities for your needs, or freeze the left overs.
Spicy Butternut Squash and Potato Soup
Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 leek, washed, trimmed and sliced
3 chopped onions – I used red
1/2 diced chili – not too hot
1/2 inch root ginger peeled and finely chopped
2 litres of good strong chicken stock (make sure you boil the stock to reduce by it by half after following my stock recipe. This will give it a much deeper flavour)
2 large potatoes, washed but not peeled and cut into1 – 2 inch dice
1 small butternut squash de-seeded and chopped into 1 inch slices
salt to season
Method
Heat the oil in a large, heavy based pan until it runs quickly when the pan is tipped. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, set the heat to medium and cover the pan. When you hear the mustard seeds popping, let it cook for about half a minute or until the cumin seeds are getting brown.
Remove the lid and add the chopped onions and leeks. Add the chili and stir occasionally until the onions are soft and transparent, try not to make too much brown caramelisation on the bottom of the pan but a little but is fine.
Add the ginger and the potatoes and stir for about a minute then pour over the stock and bring to the boil.
Simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Meanwhile put the butternut squash into a lidded microwavable dish and microwave on full for 8 to 10 minutes or until it is soft.
When the potatoes are cooked, add the squash and liquidise the whole lot before passing it through a sieve or a vegetable mouli.
Add salt to taste.
If I wasn’t watching my weight I would probably stir through some coconut milk or cream before serving but I actually added some cooked basmati rice and made a very substantial lunch.
