Normally when I make a soup it is my grandma's lentil or pearl barley
veg soup with a meat based stock from boiled bones and trimmings (quite
often the remains of the xmas ham and gammon and turkey carcass) which
takes forever to cook.

This time, I decided to make something totally veggie for a change.
Ingedients
400 grammes of peeled Sweet Potato/Yam.
1 medium butternut squash (when peeled/seeded and chopped about the same
ammount of flesh as the potato).
2 sticks celery
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 bayleaves
few stalks of celantro/corriander roughly chopped for flavour and
colour.
splash of olive oil
1/2 teapoon cumin powder.
4 teaspoons of dried vegetable boullion (I like marigold).
1 litre of boiling water.

Directions.

Finely dice the onion, carrot and celery.
Chop the potato and squash into even sized large chunks.
Sweat the onion, carrot and celery until softened in the olive oil with
the bayleaves.
Add the potato and squash and gently saute for about 5 minutes until
they start to change, but not brown.

Add the boiling water to the stock powder, and cover the the vegetables.
Add a little more water if needed.
bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and put the lid on.
stir in the dried cumin.
Simmer until the large chunks are tender.
Allow to cool slightly, remove the bayleaves and blend until as smooth
as you like. Don't totally puree, leave a little texture.

When warming to to serve, add salt and pepper to taste, along with the
chopped corriander.

Those quantities above made enough for a large bowl as a starter for 2
people, plus enough to box up for the freezer. There is enough for
another 6 portions as starters or 3 as a large lunch soup portions.

Probably a common enough recipe for the regular soup makers, but I've
only really ever roast or baked squash and sweet potato and they aren't
that common in the UK, only recently gaining popularity.

I wonder if a little grated nutmeg might add something too.
any other sugestions?
--
Carl Robson
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