Warm Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

I was watching Donal Skehan's 'Kitchen Hero' last week, and, he made what looked to be, a delicious roasted butternut squash soup. I said that I may definitely give it a go since I had never cooked with squash before. I didn't really know what to expect, but, it turned out to be surprisingly easy to prepare and the soup was extremely easy to make. The soup, served with a nice wedge, or two, of fresh rustic bread is definitely the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold winter's day.

You will need...

Approx.1 kg of Butternut Squash

4 tbsp Olive Oil/ Coconut Oil/ Veg Oil

Salt & Pepper

2 Red Onions

Half a Small Red Chilli Pepper

400ml of Coconut Milk

600ml of Vegetable Stock

Method

1) First, preheat your oven to 220C/ 425F/ Gas Mark 7

2) Then prepare your butternut squash by slicing it across the middle, peeling it and scooping out the fleshy inside with a spoon

If you're stuck, this video will explain how to prepare the squash really well....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qwTjTUMT8Y

3) Then dice the squash and put it into a baking tray with 2 tbsp of oil drizzled over it and a sprinkling of both salt and pepper

4) Roast the squash for a half hour

5) While the squash it roasting you can prepare your onions by slicing then into thin pieces

6) You can then put them in a pot with the remaining oil (with the lid on) and allow them to sweat 

7) When the onions have softened, you can add in the chilli pepper and leave it to swear some more

8) When the half hour is up, take the squash out of the oven and empty it into the pot and stir

9) Pour into the coconut milk and veg stock, stir, and bring to the boil

10) When the soup reaches boiling point, allow it to simmer on a low heat for approx 40 minutes

11) Then turn off the ring, and, after a further 10 minutes blend the soup using a hand blender 

It really is the perfect dish to come home to after a day out in the Winter air, or after a chilli ice skating session!