Ingredients
1 large white onion
1 or 2 sweet potatoes
1 large butternut squash
2 or 3 garlic cloves crushed and sliced
1 nutmeg
1 bayleaf
1 litre of vegetable sock or plain water
Salt
Pepper
Gently fry off the sliced onion in the pan in a
good tablespoon or two of nice oil (put the lid on the pan as we are sweating
them and don’t want them to burn).
After 5 or 10 minutes, when the onions are
transparent but have not gained much colour, add the garlic and continue to
gently sweat for another 2 or 3 minutes.
The sweet potato and squash should be roughly
chopped into 1 or 2 inch cubes and placed into the pan and stirred into the
onion and garlic mixture for a minute or so before adding either the stock or
water. This should just cover the chopped vegetables.
At this stage add half the nutmeg, grated into
the pan with some freshly grated black pepper and salt, throw in the bay leaf
and put the lid on, simmering gently for 10 to 15 minutes or until the squash
and potato are soft.
It’s important not to boil away all the
goodness, but we are going to use either a stick mixer or a food processor to
turn the contents of the pot into a puree (removing the bay leaf first) so it
needs to be soft enough to do so easily. If you don't have a stick blender, then pour the contents into a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy.
I then serve this lovely, tasty and robustly sweet soup
with a dollop of yoghurt, more grated nutmeg and a sprinkling of chopped chives
or coriander. A side plate of chunky home-made bread is a great accompaniment.
