Spicy Root Vegetable Soup Recipe

Submitted by Lewjam

Ingredients for Spicy Root Vegetable Soup:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 kilo of sweet potato
• A few parsnips you have left over (no more then 300g or it will overpower)
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 red chillies (hard to quantify,  I had to use 4 from this years crop as they were not very hot, play it by ear and on your own taste!)
• Coriander powder
• Cumin Powder
• Fresh coriander (if you have it, don’t buy it just for the sake of it though!)
• 1 litre of chicken or veg stock (maybe more depending on size of veg – just enough to cover)
• Drop of crème for indulgence!

Method for Spicy Root Vegetable Soup:

OK, this recipe is best made with a good stock, however for simplicity I have found “knorr stock pots” are an excellent substitutes.  Almost as good as the real thing and much better then oxo cubes!

1. Peel and chop the veg into chunks (size isn’t so important as we will blitz later).
2. In a little butter cook down the onions and garlic in a large pan until soft.
3. Add the chilli finely chopped and stir in half a teaspoon of coriander and cumin powder.
4. Add the vegetables and coat well in the spices.
5. Add the stock, ensure they are just covered by the stock.
6. Add fresh ground black pepper (shouldn’t need salt if your stock is good, but season to taste!)
7. Again add a pinch of mixed dried herbs – not necessary if you have good home made stock!
8. Put lid on and simmer over a low heat for about 35min, or until the veg is totally cooked through.
9. When ready, blitz using a hand blender until thick and creamy (there should be lovely flecks of red running through the soup from the chillies).
10. Add a drop of crème if you are feeling naughty (it doesn’t “make” the dish as the parsnips offer a creamy over tone on there own, but it’s still very nice!)
11. Before serving (either fresh of from the freezer) add some fresh coriander if you have some to hand, if not its great anyway!

I always have some there and then with crusty bread (it goes very nicely with cheesy bread!).  I then tend to bag it up into food bags and freeze in portions.  Take a bag out, put it in a microwaveable box in the morning and by dinner time you can just split the bag open, pour into the box and microwave.  (This saves on buying a millions boxes – my freezer is always full of “mystery bags” I just grab one in the morning and take whatever accompaniment I think might go based on what it looks like rather then labelling everything.  Makes my lunch interesting).