The first thing I want to make when I see all the squashes and pumpkins piled up outside greengrocers and in the vegetable bag is soup. Sure, there's plenty of time for risottos and curries, but let's hail in the season of huddling round bowls of warm things in the right way, by tracking down the biggest pot you can find and getting the radio on, a teapot full of English Breakfast and a good hunk of bread to 'sample' before lunch is quite ready.
1 butternut squash, chopped into finger-size chunks so they roast easily
Handful of carrots- about 3 or 4, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp curry spice (of your choice)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
300ml vegetable stock
Salt, pepper
Turn the oven up high, about 200°C, and place the butternut squash in a roasting tin with plenty of olive oil, garlic cloves and the dried spices. Cook for about 40 minutes while you make the rest of the soup.
Sweat the red onion in the biggest pan you can find with a lid for about five minutes. Then add the chopped carrots and potatoes, covering in the oil, and then the vegetable stock. Allow to cook for twenty minutes, then season to taste. Check on the squash, and turn down the heat of the soup to a very low heat.
Once the squash is ready, pour everything into the soup pan including all the oil and garlic cloves. Add the fresh coriander, then blitz with a hand blender or mixer. The result should be a pan full of rich and spicy soup, which I love to top off with croutons and lashings of black pepper.
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