Well, it's the start of a new year - welcome, 2017! I won't mention the usual qualms everyone has had with 2016 but it's great that we have a new year to always frame a fresh start. Here's hoping that this year will have some great positives for all. In other news, it has got so cold here in the UK! So, with this great follow-up, let's start warming ourselves with soup!
I've come to love butternut squash soup when the days start getting colder. It's so comforting, thick and delicious. With these soups, I don't like them too sweet and prefer to either add a slight curry kick to deepen the squash's flavours or simply accent the squash with flavours that let it's natural sweetness shine through, without increasing the sweet flavour. So, I came across a Tom Kerridge recipe using pumpkin instead of butternut, which would work all the same, but I didn't have any to use, so I've adapted it very slightly and it's become a go-to winter soup for me.
It's creamy with the small addition of double cream, adding to the natural creamy consistency the butternut provides in a soup. I have never used maple bacon before this recipe and assume it's more popular in the States but I've learnt it can be a great addition to lots of other autumnal recipes. It's adds a nice depth, as does pairing it with a small amount of chilli powder - not too much to make it into a chilli/hot soup, but just enough to add to the warmth.
Butternut Squash and Maple Bacon Soup
Adapted from BBC GoodFood recipe.
Serves: 2-4 bowls worth
Time: after prep. 30-45mins.
Ingredients
500g butternut squash or pumpkin (de-fleshed, and cubed)
2 cloves of garlic (roughly sliced)
1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
50g of unsalted butter
60g streaky maple cured bacon (plus extra for toppings) - sliced
1Litre of vegetable stock
100ml double cream
pinch of chilli powder (just to give a slight kick)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil and half the butter in a large pan on a low heat and add the onions with a pinch of salt until lightly softened.
Add about 50g of the bacon into the pan along with the garlic and chilli powder and cook until fat releases (you don't want it to get crispy).
Next add the butternut squash (or pumpkin), salt and pepper to taste (bear in mind the bacon) and combine.
Increase the heat and add the stock to the pan, bringing it to the boil. Cook until you can easily stick a knife through the butternut - about 30-40 mins depending on how large your cubes are.
Remove from the heat and ladle some of the liquid out into a reserve container - this will depend on how thick or thin you like your soups. For me, I like a thick soup so I removed about 300-400ml in total, leaving enough to have the squash clearly visible above the liquid. You can always add some of your reserved liquid back in after blending to thin it out if you wish. (You might see in the original recipe that the cream is added before doing this but I chose to add the cream after, limiting the amount of flavour I felt I was removing from the pot)
Next add the cream and adjust your liquid levels if you like. Before blending, get the rest of the butter and gently melt in a small pan, cooking the rest of the bacon with some pepper until crispy.
While that's cooking, blend the butternut with a stick blender until smooth (May be best to leave to cool for a bit but it depends how hungry and careful you are).
Heat the soup up, adjust seasonings, fill your bowls, throw some bacon on top and enjoy with some crusty bread!