MIKEY BELL

Anybody that tells you soup is not a complete meal has clearly not had an inviting, steaming bowl with an inappropriate, wobbling stack of bread.

A soup can fill you when you didn’t even realise you were empty.

I turn to this soup often, its spicy warmth providing both calm and excitement at the same time, but it also reassuring as it can be made 4 – 5 days in advance of needing it, so you have it ready for when your body and soul needs immediate restoration.

You can also make the Ginger Butter ahead of time by mixing the ginger and butter and keep it in the fridge, just bringing it out and melting it when you’re ready to eat. The butter is not absolutely essential, but the creaminess of the butter balances out the sharp kiss of the lime, so if you’re not serving with the butter, I advise using only half of the lime juice.

Substitutions? Why yes. It would go without saying that pumpkin is arguably a very appropriate substitute, and given that I’ve published this recipe in October, I dare say that those Cinderella-carriage size pumpkins are in abundance in the shops right now, so have at it. Aim for 150 – 200g of the pumpkin (peeled and de-seeded weight) if you want to still follow the measurements below.

Other than a pump, a fantastic substitute would also be sweet potato, which does contrast really fantastically against the lime and ginger.

Serves 2 – 4

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 butternut squash

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Chinese 5-Spice

400ml vegetable stock

1 lime

A thumb sized piece of ginger – peeled

50g unsalted butter

1. Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic and butternut squash into small chunks – the smaller the chunk, the quicker they will be to cook.
2. In a large pot that comes with a lid, warm the oil on a medium heat and then add the onion, garlic, and squash. Add a little salt, pepper and the 5-spice powder and cook for 8 – 10 minutes. If you feel the bottom of the pan is catching, just add a splash of water and stir – it’ll be fine.
3. Add the vegetable stock and the juice of the lime and bring the stock to a boil, turn the heat down until the stock is simmering, clamp on a lid, and cook for 40 – 45 minutes until the squash is soft and tender under the weight of a spoon crushing it against the side of the pan.
4. Sniff your kitchen. It’s going to smell so good.
5. Take the pan off the heat, leave to cool a little before blitzing to a smooth soup with a stick blender (or carefully transfer to a countertop blender).
6. If you’re not eating it now, allow to fully cool, cover and keep in the fridge until needed – just reheat the soup gently in a pot until piping hot.
7. For the Ginger Butter, which is best done just before you eat, grate the ginger with a fine grater into a small pan and add the butter. Gently melt the butter on a medium heat until everything in the pan has turned into a golden, bubbly sauce. Spoon this over the soup on serving.