Butternut squash and pancetta soup
- Prep: 10m
- Cook: 20m
- Serves: 4
A wonderfully warming and comforting soup – perfect for a chilly night. You could try using cubes of chorizo instead of pancetta, or make it veggie with a can of cooked chickpeas or butterbeans. What you must do, though, is serve it with lots of crusty bread.
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion, paprika, garlic and chilli over a low heat for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the butternut squash and stir for another 2 minutes.
- Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the butternut squash is tender. Transfer to a blender or food processor and process in batches until smooth.
- Chop the pancetta into small dice (remove any skin). Fry the pancetta or chorizo in a pan (without any oil) for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden.
- Return the soup to a clean pan. Stir in the pancetta or chorizo and yogurt. Simmer gently for a couple of minutes until hot. Season to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle over the chopped coriander to serve.
- Storage: This soup will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. It can be frozen (without the chorizo and yogurt) for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge then stir in the yogurt and chorizo and heat through.
- Variations: Try using pumpkin instead of butternut squash
Ingredients
All to be sourced organic where possible
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- Pinch of smoked paprika
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 medium red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 700g butternut squash (about 1 ½ butternut squash), peeled and cut into chunks
- 400ml/14floz fresh vegetable stock or (2tsp vegetable bouillon powder dissolved in water)
- 150g/5 ½ oz pancetta, cubed (or chorizo sausage, diced)
- 125ml/4floz natural yogurt
- Freshly ground black pepper to season
- 3tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
