A Soup'er Easy Recipe for Butternut Squash Soup

In my opinion the easiest and healthiest butternut squash soup in the world! No chopping or peeling required for this delicious, flavoursome, seasonal soup. The butternut squash is roasted whole without oil making it a doddle to chop and peel.

Time:  10 minutes hands on time + 90 minutes baking time
Cost:  35p per serving
Calories:  112 calories per serving

Easy Butternut Squash Soup: Serves 4:

• 1 butternut squash weighing around 1kg
• 1 red onion
• A little oil for frying
• 600ml chicken stock
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 generous tablespoons crème fraise
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 C.
2. Wrap up the whole squash completely and tightly with foil so there are no gaps. Put into the oven and bake for 1 and a half hours.
3. Remove squash from the oven and unwrap. cut off the stalky ends, split in half lengthways with a sharp knife and scoop out the seeds. Chop the remaining "edible" parts of the squash into rough chunks and set to one side. If you prefer to take off the skin (which is fine to eat), scoop out all the orange flesh of the squash and discard skin.
4. Dice the red onion roughly and fry in a little olive oil in a large saucepan for 3 - 4 minutes until soft. Crush the garlic with a garlic crusher and add to the onion along with the sage, the stock and the squash. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil.
5. When the soup has reached the boil, turn down the heat as low as possible and using a hand blender, blend the soup thoroughly for around 2 - 3 minutes until completely smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the crème fraise with a spoon until well combined. Serve immediately with crusty bread. Dreamy.

Tips: This soup keeps well in the fridge for about 3 days or freezes well for up to 1 month. You can substitute the sage for other dried herbs if you like such as rosemary or thyme, but I think sage is a winner with squash. Try using pumpkin instead of squash if you like. You can toast the seeds and use them sprinkled onto of the soup! See my blog about squash for more information.