Squash and cumin soup with croutons, pumpkin & cumin seeds

This is one of my all time favourite soups as I love roasted squash; it’s lightly spiced and finished with fresh herbs and crunchy seeds.

Ingredients

Makes about 2.5L

• 1 butternut squash, chopped into large chunks

• 1 medium sweet potato, whole unpeeled

• 2 onions, chopped roughly

• 3 tsp ground cumin

• 1.5 tsp salt

• 1.6L vegetable, or chicken stock

• Pumpkin seeds & cumin seeds, toasted gently in a frying pan - a small sprinkle on each bowl

• Handful of fresh coriander leaves

Method

• Firstly buy yourself a decent peeler as it will make the job of peeling the squash so much easier!

• Heat the oven to 190ºC

• Place the squash on a roasting tray (you may need to use two to avoid overcrowding the squash which will make it steam, not roast) and drizzle with olive oil, season.

• Sprinkle over a teaspoon of cumin and rub into the squash. Put the sweet potato on the tray as well.

• Place the tray/s into the oven and roast for 45 minutes, or until the squash is soft and has browned a bit at the edges.

• In a large pan heat a couple of glugs of olive oil and fry the onions gently for about 10 minutes.

• Add the rest of the cumin and grated garlic and fry for a couple of minutes to cook through.

• When the squash is ready, add to the pan with the onions and pour over the stock. Heat it through.

• Peel the sweet potato using your fingers and add to the pan.

• Either blend using a hand-held, or transfer to a food processor for a smoother texture.

• Toast a few pumpkin seeds and cumin seeds in a pan for 2-3 minutes and sprinkle over the soup with some coriander.

Croutons

• Keep the ends of sourdough loaves as they make brilliant croutons. Just chop into bite sized pieces, place on a tray and drizzle with enough olive oil to coat fairly evenly, but don't drown them!

• Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180ºC, turning half way through.