Sweet, Spicy — Butternut Squash Soup

Hi, Martina here, Andreas has his friend over from Sweden so we've sort of been on the downlow with cooking the past 2 weeks but I made my favourite soup yesterday, one I've been making for a while and still haven't gotten sick of. I first ate it years ago at my mum's friend Cathy's house when my family was invited for dinner and have been in love with the flavour ever since. I've changed it a bit to suit my taste so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Butternut Squash Soup 

4 people

1 squash (25 cm tall)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic crushed

2" piece of ginger

5 cups of chicken stock or water

2 shakes of chili flakes

3 tbsp maple syrup

4 tbsp whipping cream

salt to taste

cilantro as garnish

Cut your squash in half and prick the top with a fork, place it in an oven proof dish which has 1 cm of water in it. Roast the squashin a 350˚ for 45 minutes — 1 hour until it's soft.

While waiting cut up your onion, garlic and ginger into course chunks as the soup will be pureed later there is no need to make them to fine.

When the squash is cooked sautee the onions in the 3 tbsps of olive oil until they're transluscent on med/low heat. Add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking until they are transluscent as well. Once this is cooked you can start scooping the roasted squash into your pot, stirring it and getting all the flavours in. Sautee the squash for about 5 minutes and add some salt and the chili flakes. Stir it well and sautee for another 5 minutes making sure the squash doesn't brown.

The squash will look like squash paste now so add your 5 cups of preferred liquid and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every once in a while. After 20 minutes blend the soup with a hand blender or food processor and return it to the pot. Taste your seasonings to see if you need more salt or chili and adjust it to your liking. Turn your heat to low and add your maple syrup and cream, cook the soup for another 15 — 20 minutes, stirring and making sure it doesn't bubble too much.

If the soup is too thick, add some more liquid or if it's too thin cook the liquid out.

serve this with a sprinkle of cilantro and enjoy!

Martina & Andreas