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Thursday 3 October 2013

Recipe! Roast Butternut and Lentil Soup

Autumn is here, and so squash and pumpkins have been in the shops for less than an arm and a leg. I had me a fancy for some lovely pumpkin soup, so after messing about in the kitchen for awhile, came up with this recipe. 

It's a lovely warming butternut soup with cumin, onion and garlic, and thickened with red lentils - because I can never cook them without them tuning to mush anyway.

Roast Butternut and Lentil Soup
Makes 4-6 portions
Ingredients:
1 kg Butternut squash (or pumpkin, if you prefer.)
1 Medium onion
1 Clove of garlic
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 Tbs Cumin
1 Litre of Vegetable Stock
1 Cup of red lentils.

Method
1) Roast your squash - I just chop the bottom off the butternut, halve it, scrape out the seeds and throw it into the oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes or so until soft, but you could make smaller pieces so it roasts faster. Once roasted, put it aside to cool, and scrape the cooked flesh from the skin
2) Sweat the onions and garlic - Roughly chop your onions and garlic and add to a large pan with the vegetable oil and cumin. Cook at a low temperature until the onions are translucent and soft. (Don't cook them too fast! If they brown it changes the entire flavour of the soup)
3) Bring it all together - Once the onions and garlic are nice and soft, add the lentils, pumpkin, and warm stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are soft.
4) Blend it up! - Once the lentils are soft and disintegrating, blend it until smooth.


Eat it with croutons, thicken with cream, or just guzzle it as it is. 
xx