You can roast the squash and carrots ahead of time, and then put the rest together when you need it – it would be a great recipe to try if you’ve got people coming over. As usual, we froze what was left in batches to enjoy another day!

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1 medium squash, peeled and cut into small cubes

8 carrots, cut into long pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

A handful of sage leaves

4 garlic cloves, peeled

A good dash of balsamic vinegar

1 onion, sliced

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

600ml vegetable stock

A dash of red wine vinegar

Seasoning as required

Method

1. Heat the oven to around 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Place the squash and carrots in a roasting tray along with the olive oil, and then swish the tray about so that the oil coats the veg. Add the sage, garlic cloves (left whole), balsamic vinegar and season with a little salt and a lot of pepper. Roast in the oven until browned and the veg is soft.

2. Heat a little more olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion with the cumin seeds for about 5 minutes or so until the onion starts to soften.

3. Add the tomato puree and cook for a few minutes more before adding the red wine vinegar. Stir well and then add the squash and carrots, along with the garlic and any oil left over from roasting, as well as the mixed herbs.

4. Pour over the stock, making sure that the veg is covered (you can add a little boiling water here if not). Leave to simmer for a while (we think it was about 15-20 minutes!). Use a hand blender to whizz it up to your preferred consistency – we did this once it had cooled a little, but you could do it when it’s hot, but take care!

5. Serve with some crusty bread or focaccia – enjoy!

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Butternut squash isn’t something that I’ve cooked with a lot before, but recently I’ve realised how delicious it is and I seem to keep choosing it! Here’s a delicious recipe by Nigel Slater, which I saw on TV last week on his programme Nigel Slater’s Dish of the Day. It was first broadcast on 23rd November 2012, but you can watch it on the BBC website. The recipe isn’t written out but I’ve transcribed it – on the clip it shows you how to make some crisps out of the butternut squash peelings, but I’ve not included them here. I also had a sweet potato in the fridge and decided to throw that in for good measure, but that isn’t part of the original recipe.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
1 brown onion
Olive oil
Hot smoked paprika
1 vegetable stock cube, made to packet instructions
1 sweet potato (optional!)

Method

1. Peel and chop the squash (and sweet potato) and the onion, and brown in a pan with some olive oil.

2. Add the paprika and stir well. Pour over the stock, season and cover the pan with a lid. Leave to simmer until the squash is tender.

3. When cooked, blend thoroughly and add boiling water to adjust the consistency to your liking. Enjoy with some crusty bread – which tastes even better if you’ve made your own (click here for my bread recipe).

This soup freezes really well – you’ll need to add a bit more water to adjust the consistency. We also added some bacon when cooking a frozen batch and that tastes fantastic too!

The post Butternut squash soup appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I decided to look for a recipe using pumpkin, and after trawling through loads of different recipes on the internet I settled on a soup recipe, but I’ve basically combined lots of ideas from lots of different recipes to come up with this one. I must admit that pumpkin isn’t really a vegetable that I usually use, and I suppose that true for quite a lot of people in the UK. But now I’ve tried this out I’ll definitely be using it every Autumn! You could always leave out the bacon to make a vegetarian version of the recipe – just remember to add some salt if you do!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

200g/7oz brown onions, chopped

3 large carrots, chopped

1 medium sized pumpkin, chopped with outer skin removed

125g/4.5oz smoked back bacon, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp ground cumin

750ml/1pt 7floz vegetable stock

Black pepper (season to taste – also add salt if not using bacon)

Method

1. Heat the oil in large pan or stock pot and add the onions. Cook on a low heat until softened.

2. Add the pumpkin, carrots, bacon and cumin. Season, stir well, cover and cook for around 10 minutes.

3. Add the stock and raise the heat to bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and simmer (uncovered) for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.

4. Leave to cool and then blend with a hand blender. I like my soup to be quite chunky, but you could puree it if you prefer.

5. Enjoy with some home-baked bread

I’ve also been making some gorgeous Yorkshire Parkin which is just perfect for a cold Autumn night in! I’ll post this recipe tomorrow because I haven’t managed to take a good photo of it yet…that’s if there is any left in the morning, it’s so delicious And makes a great dessert after having some of this delicious pumpkin, carrot and bacon soup!

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