I never could have imagined years ago that I’d eat and enjoy pumpkin soup but there you go. This is actually pretty awesome. Creamy, savoury and rich.
Silky smooth and smokey.
- 1 medium sized butternut squash
- 2 red peppers
- 2 medium onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2L vegetable stock
- 1½t smoked paprika (i.s. “spanish paprika”)
- sunflower oil
- 3 bay leaves
- salt and black pepper
- a little cream and chives to serve
To keep it fully vegan you can ditch the cream or substitute it with coconut cream.
- Place a large pot on a medium heat and add a decent glug of oil to it.
- Peel and slice the onions and add them to oil.
- Mince the garlic and add to the pan.
- Peel, deseed and dice the butternut into a rough 1 inch dice.
- Deseed, dice and add the pepper to the pan.
- Add salt, freshly milled black pepper, bay leaves and the smoked paprika to the mix, stir to remove any lumps of paprika and cover with the stock.
- Cook over the medium heat until the peppers and squash is cooked – which should take about 45 minutes.
- Remove and discard the bay leaves and blend the soup to a some puree . At this point you can add water to adjust the texture – but it should be thick and creamy so be careful to not add too much.
- Dish up with a swirl of cream and a pinch of chopped chives.