Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup

The weather in London is awful; grey, murky and damp. So my first post in June is going to be about soup - a lovely wonderful pastel golden yellow coloured soup packed with summery flavours with a velvet texture!

I love butternut squash and usually have one in the vegetable bowl whenever they are available in the shops. BNS are fat free, high in fibre, low GI, low in calories and are packed with beta catotene, vitamin C and the minerals selenium, zinc, manganese, magnesium and potassium. Of these selenium and zinc are important nutrients for fertility (not that I am at the stage of my life yet where I wish to be fertile!). BNS are versatile; they can be baked, roasted, boiled, puréed or fried, gently toasted the seeds are delicious. I often use BNS in place of potatoes, in doing so having an extra portion of vegetables towards my 5 a day.

For the soup I baked the butternut to concentrate the flavour, the tahini adds a depth and a velvet smoothness and the lemon lifts the soup and reminded me that it is supposed to be summer. If you like spices I think that some cumin, allspice or chilli would work well, but the simple flavours all combine to make a rounded whole, packed with layers of taste that really need no extra flavouring.

Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup (serves 4)

½ Medium butternut squash
Glug olive oil
1 Medium onion
2 Cloves of garlic
1½ pints vegetable stock (I use Marigold)
1 heaped tablespoon tahini
Zest and juice of one lemon*

Cut the BNS in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds, and bake at GM4/180C/350F for about 30 mins until soft. (Put the squash cut side uppermost directly onto the oven shelf)

Meanwhile peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic and sweat in the olive oil in a deep pan until translucent and starting to turn golden brown. Add all the other ingredients, discarding the BNS skin.

Simmer for 5 mins, allow to cool for 10 mins** and blend either with a food processor or with a stick blender.

Serve piping hot, garnished with some green herbs.

This soup freezes well.

* When zesting and juicing a lemon always zest first and then juice. It is nigh on impossible to do the other way round

** I have melted the ends of 2 stick blenders by using them in liquids that are too hot, the blender still works but having changed in shape it can (and will) unpredictably splurt soup everywhere!

Other BNS recipes include
Tomato, BNS, Butterbean and Chorizo Bake
Squash Ribbon Pasta