Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

For me, cooking is a release, it is my own sanctuary and a little bit of daily therapy. There are days when I cannot wait to get home and start cooking, even if it is just a poached egg. I have had a pretty busy week at work and had a soup (this soup) lined up to cook on Wednesday. I got home too late and so had a quick supper of avocado on my caveman bread, rocket salad with tahini and lime dressing and some smoked salmon. Pretty tasty but not quite what I had been looking forward to. The same happened on Thursday, so I finally made this delicious and wholesome soup on Friday. I so enjoyed the process and soon the stress and troubles of the week flowed out of me. It was like having a massage. My muscles released, my brow smoothed again. Does anyone else get this kind of feeling from cooking, or am I just a tiny bit crazy? 

Anyway, angst removed and feathers smoothed I dived into this glorious bowl of nourishing and tasty soup. I added a little honey to the roasting of the squash but you don't have to if you don't want to. It does had a richness to the final taste and the amount is not a lot. This serves 2 as a main course or 4 smaller portions. Serve with a slice or two of thinly sliced and toasted Caveman bread.

You will need:

1 large butternut squash or 2 small, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into discs

600-700 ml good vegetable or chicken stock

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

1 large red onion, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

300g leeks, top and tailed and chopped into semi-circles

1-2 tsp organic runny honey

300ml coconut milk

juice of half a lime

salt

pepper

olive oil/coconut oil

pumpkin seeds to garnish

Re-heat your oven to 190 degrees C and put your prepared squash onto a tray with a generous glug of olive oil, then drizzle over the honey and salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking them up halfway through.

Whilst the squash is roasting, prepare all the other vegetables. Fry off the onions and garlic until soft and browning, add the carrots and leeks and fry off until the leeks soften. Add the paprika and stir so all the vegetables are covered. Add the hot stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add in your squash, lime juice and another twist of pepper. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Put back into a clean pot over a medium heat and stir in the coconut milk. Warm through for a minute or so and serve immediately. Garnish with some pumpkin seeds or a little swirl of coconut milk. You can keep this in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze on the day of making for up to 3 months.