Spiced Roast Squash Soup with Crunchy Chickpea & Pumpkin Seed Croutons
Serves 5
Having been literally dragged kicking and screaming out of summer time, I have now gone into full-on-house-covered-in-pumpkins-autumn-obsessed mode! How could I not when there is such gorgeous seasonal produce around? To me, this gloomy London weather calls for one thing — hunkering down with a warming autumnal soup. One serving provides 159 calories, 32% of my daily fibre requirements and a huge 68% of my Vitamin A; which is great news to keep all of those sniffles and sneezes at bay.
INGREDIENTS
· 500g Winter Squash (I used Red Kuri, but Butternut or Pumpkin would work equally well)
· 4 Garlic Cloves
· 1½ tbsp Olive Oil
· 1 Carrot
· 2 Celery Stalks
· 1 Leek
· 1 White Onion
· 1 tbsp Sage
· 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
· 1 tsp Dried Chilli Flakes or freshly chopped red chilli (NOTE — this produces a soup with a nice kick, but nothing too spicy. Adjust the amount according to your spiciness tastes!)
· 1½ L Vegetable Stock
METHOD
· Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.
· Peel and dice the squash.
· Place it in a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper and sprinkle with 1 tsp smoked paprika. Toss well to combine.
· Roast for 30 minutes or until starting to brown.
· Peel the carrots.
· Dice the carrots, onions, leeks and celery.
· Finely chop the garlic and chilli (if using fresh).
· Heat ½ tbsp oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onions and leeks until soft.\
· Add the carrots, celery, garlic and chilli and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes.
· Add 1½ litres of vegetable stock.
· Add the roasted squash.
· Add the sage and a tsp of smoked paprika.
· Simmer on a low-medium heat for 25 minutes.
· Season with salt and pepper to taste.
· Depending on what texture you like your soup, either mash for a chunkier soup or blitz in a blender for a smoother one.
· Serve with some crunchy roasted chickpeas and pumpkin seeds — recipe on my blog from May.
Nutritional Information
Calories — 159
Fat — 5g
Carbohydrates — 28g
Protein — 3g
Fibre — 8g (32%)
Vitamin A — 68%
Vitamin C — 37&
Calcium — 9%
Iron — 13%