Thai butternut squash soup

Autumn is here and it is time to whip up some heartwarming soup!

This Thai butternut squash soup is creamy and velvety with some warm spices and a touch of sweetness...just what you want on a damp cold day!
I takes a little while to make but the effort is worth it.

You will need:

1 large butternut squash
1 tin of coconut milk (400 mL)
1 lemongrass stalk
1 red chilli
1 cardamom pod
2 garlic cloves
zest of 1 lime
2 khaffir lime leaves
1 big thumb of fresh ginger
handful of coriander
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp of oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 C fan.

2. Peel and deseed your butternut squash. Cut into chunks and place in an oven tray. Coat with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 30 min.

3. In the mean time, slice the chilli,  zest the lime, peel and grate your ginger, crush the garlic cloves, batter the lemon grass stalk with the back of the knife to allow the flavours to release, crush the cardamom pod and tear the khaffir lime leaves into small pieces. Put the spices in a sauce pan with the coconut milk, bring to a slow simmer for 5 min before tuning the heat off and leaving to infuse for 20 min.

4. At that point it is time to take the squash out of the oven. Leave to cool 5 min. in the mean time strain the infusion using a colander to remove all the spices.

5. In a blender, whizz the squash with the infused coconut milk. Add 200 mL of boiling water (or less if you like your soup think) and blend for another 30 sec. Done! All is left is ti serve into bowls and garnish with fresh coriander. I always keep a little bit of coconut milk spare to add a swirl into the bowl...doesn't change the taste but it makes it really makes that orange pop against the white milk :)