Seriously Scrumptious Soup

Dear readers, please listen to me when I tell you YOU HAVE GOT TO MAKE THIS SOUP!!!!

Nothing is better than a good autumn/winter soup that'll warm you up on a cold night. I have found a really REALLY good soup. It's my own recipe, I was making it up as I went along and it turned out absolutely fabulous!

You will need:

• 1 butternut squash (about 2lbs)
• 2 small onions finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• olive oil
• crushed chili peppers
• garam masala
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups of chicken stock (I had some left over stock, skimmed of fat, from yesterdays roast)
• 4-6 strips of previously fried bacon. I am had some in the freezer and so crushed it into small pieces while frozen.

Heat oven to 400F (200C) 

Peel the squash, remove the seeds and then cut up into dice sized chunks.

Place squash into a roasting tin. Add enough olive oil to coat the squash. Sprinkle with crushed chili peppers and garam masala.

Roast for 30-40 minutes. Stir them every 10-15 minutes.

While the squash is roasting go ahead and saute the onion, garlic and bay leaves over a low heat in the butter. The longer and slower they cook the better!

When the squash is finished roasting add it to the onions and garlic. Add the chicken stock. 

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low for 20 minutes. We want the flavours to develop and the squash to get nice and soft.

Serve with some homemade Irish soda bread.

I cannot say enough good things about this soup. It was perfect! I still have a lovely flavor in my mouth and it's 2 hours later.

I went to the store tonight and enjoyed being welcomed back to the fragrant reminder of the soup when I returned. The chili pepper gives the soup an extra warmth, which is perfect for this time of year.
I'm really really happy with this soup!! I urge you to try it! I think it would also be great with a small amount of red lentils in it too, but not too many, you don't want to change the consistency of the soup.
It would also be super easy to turn it into a vegetarian dish. Leave out the bacon and use vegetable stock instead. You would probably want the lentils then for sure!