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Pear and Butternut Squash Soup
This recipe is in categories Healthy eating, Soups and Sauces, Starters, Vegetarian,
About this recipe:
Difficulty: 2
Comments: Take care with chopping the onion and garlic etc.
and with cutting the butternut squash!
Preparation Time: 30 - 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 55 minutes (the squash can be cooking whilst you make the soup)
Number of servings: 4
Serving suggestions: Serve with warm crusty bread.
This is a vegetarian recipe
This is lovely comfort food for the chilly evenings – surprisingly delicious.
You will only really need half a butternut squash for this – I suggest you roast all of it, mash the other half up and freeze it – or you could double the soup ingredients and then freeze half the soup when you have made it!
If you cannot get fresh ginger, try 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
Ingredients
- 500g (1lb 4oz) butternut squash, cooked and pureed (see below)
- 2 large (or 3 small) pears
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 25g (1oz) fresh ginger, peeled
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
- 600ml (1 pint) vegetable stock
- 125ml (¼ pint) double cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- small bunch chives (optional for garnish)
Making and cooking it
Roasting the squash:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/375°f/Gas Mark 4
- Grease a roasting tin with a little oil
- Cut butternut squash in half along its length
- Scoop out seeds
- Put squash in tin cut side up
- Cover with foil
- Roast between 30 and 45 minutes until it is tender
- Allow to cool and scoop out the flesh and mash (or puree in a blender)
Meanwhile the soup :
- Peel onion and chop with garlic and ginger as finely as possible
- Heat oil in large saucepan
- Stir in onion, garlic, ginger and some salt (try ½ tsp)
- Cover pan, lower heat to low and let it ‘sweat’ for 10-15 minutes – don’t let it brown
- Peel, core and roughly chop the pears
- Stir into the pan with the stock
- Heat to a simmer then cover and simmer for 20 minutes (until the pear is very soft)
- Then add pureed squash and cream and check the seasoning adding salt and pepper if needed
- Keep warm till serving then top with chopped chives (optional)