02 Oct squash soup

As autumn seeps in, it’s time to dust off your hand held blender and get some pots of soup on the go. This week, I’ve roasted some squash to make a simple soup served with Parmesan and walnuts. Soup generally takes 45 minutes to an hour to make but there’s nothing tricky in the process, and it often looks after itself. You can let it bubble away while you get settled on your sofa.

Squash Soup

Serves 2 to 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 medium squash

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

1 teaspoon of salt

Half a teaspoon of pepper

1 fresh rosemary sprig

1 whole bulb of garlic, sliced in half

1 onion

1 potato

1 rasher of bacon (optional)

700ml of vegetable stock

1 tablespoon of finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon of finely grated Parmesan

Method

1. Peel and slice the squash into 2cm cubes. Put in roasting dish with the olive oil, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, rosemary sprig and the sliced bulb of garlic. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onion and the potato. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Heat a little butter in a large pot over a medium high heat. Fry the onion, potato and bacon together for 5 minutes. When the squash has had its 25 minutes, add it to this pot. Top up with the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Bubble for 15 minutes, or until the squash and other vegetables are soft.

3. Use a hand held blender to blitz the soup until smooth. Serve the soup, hot, with a sprinkling of finely chopped walnuts and finely grated Parmesan on top and a crusty loaf on the side.

These recipes first appeared in The Irish Independent on October 1^st