Butternut squash and Ginger soup

When it's cold outside and you are feeling a bit under the weather, that's just the time to make this lovely warming comforting soup. Packed with fresh ingredients and SO easy to put together, it can be made from scratch in 30 minutes but does taste even better the next day!

Ingredients 

Butternut squash soup.jpg
  • 1 litre Vegetable stock or meat stock/bone broth
  • Glug of coconut oil or your choice of oil
  • 1 x medium butternut squash 
  • 2/3 x leeks
  • 1 x Onion
  • 3 x Carrots
  • 1 x Red pepper 
  • 1 x Re chilli - amounts vary to taste - I use all the chilli with the seeds, use what you enjoy. 
  • A thumb sized piece of root ginger 
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 2tsp Turmeric
  • Kale/ greens/ spinach - finely sliced
  • Handful of lentils 

There are two ways that I make this soup, depending on time and whats going on in my life!

** Stock- I always have bone broth ready for soups at home but you can equally well use Kallo stock cubes, any variety as a base.

Stove top -

  • Put chopped and deseeded butternut squash ( optional peeled) in a large pan with chopped garlic, carrots, red pepper, onions, leeks, chilli, turmeric and the oil. Sweat them gently in the oil for about 5 minutes until glossy and softened, then add the lentils and the most of the stock and boil gently until the vegetables and lentils are almost cooked, add the finely sliced green vegetables for the final 5 minutes. 
  • Add salt and pepper to taste and whizz in a liquidiser ( I leave the skin still on the butternut squash too!), add a little more of the stock or boiling water if it is too thick.  
  • Serve with a few pumpkin seeds and a dollop of plain yoghurt if wished. 

Slow cooker - 

Add all the ingredients except the greens to the slow cooker with the stock. Cook on low for at least 6 hours, overnight works for me, stir in the greens for the final 30 minutes.  Finish as above. 

NB - Bone broth - I add one packet of chicken wings or a chicken carcass or bones from another roast to my slow cooker with an onion, leeks, celery, garlic or any other herbs & veges that need using up. I leave it for 24hrs on low and then strain it.