Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with vanilla cream and pistachios

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with vanilla cream and salted pistachios

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 kilo of peeled cubed butternut squash
¼ cup of butter
2 medium sweet onions – peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 red pepper – seeded and chopped in small pieces
5 peeled garlic cloves – sliced
2 bay leaf
¼ cup Manuka honey
1 lemon – juiced and zested
2 litres of good quality chicken stock

For the vanilla cream

500 mls of heavy cream – 34%
1 vanilla bean – split and scraped
1 tsp sugar
¼ cup of hulled and salted pistachios

Method

For the soup

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F
  2. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper
  3. Toss squash with oil and spread evenly over baking sheet , roast for 20 minutes.
  4. In a large pot melt butter on medium heat, when butter melts and foams add onions, red pepper, and garlic.
  5. Sweat vegetables stirring occasionally for 10 minutes – season
  6. Add honey and brown vegetables for 2 minutes
  7. Add zest and lemon juice, and bay leaf
  8. Add stock and simmer for 5 minutes
  9. Add squash and simmer for 20 minutes
  10. Remove bay leaf and purée soup with an immersion blender

For the Vanilla Cream

  1. Measure cream into a medium pot with sugar and vanilla
  2. Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes on medium heat until the cream reduces enough to coat a wooden spoon.
  3. Cool and remove vanilla bean.

Service

Portion hot soup into soup plate, drizzle cream on soup and top with salted pistachios!