I’ve been wanting to make my own soup ever since I bought my hand blender earlier this year, but I’ve not actually got around to it until now… So without further ado, let me introduce my very first soup – spiced squash and apple!

As I was feeling a bit under the weather when I made this, I wanted something warm and comforting, but also vitamin-rich to help boost my immune system. Butternut squash is great for this as it’s high in antioxidants and vitamins A and C.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 a butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
• 2 apples, cored and chopped
• Vegetable stock
• A large pan with lid and a hand blender

How to make it…

Prepare all the ingredients as outlined above – you’ll want to make sure your squash and apple are chopped and ready before you start cooking as you won’t have enough time otherwise and your base ingredients will burn.

Add a generous splash of olive oil to a large pan together with the mixed spice. Stir over a low heat with a wooden spoon to combine, then add the crushed garlic and the onion. Stir until the onion starts to change colour, then add the celery and carrot. Continue to stir frequently, ensuring all the ingredients are coated with the oil and mixed spice.

Add the chopped butternut squash and chopped apple to the pan, then pour in just enough vegetable stock to cover all the ingredients – I found this to be around 800 ml. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, ideally with a lid on the pan (I like to use a pan with a see-through lid so I can see how the soup’s doing without removing the lid constantly).

Leave to simmer until the squash and apple are tender – you can test this by seeing how easily they are pierced with a fork. Remove from the heat once ready.

Use your hand blender to puree the soup using quick bursts. You don’t even have to wait for the soup to cool down as long as you’re careful. You’ll know once the soup is ready to serve as it will look much smoother.

Garnish with pumpkin seeds, a generous pinch of cinnamon for even more sweetness, or chilli flakes for added kick.

Alternatively, add 1 tsp. chilli powder at the same time as the mixed spice if you want to give the entire soup a spicy flavour.

Serving ideas: Serve with crusty French bread, filled foccaccia and a side salad, or pour over cooked pasta or soup pasta.