Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Hello!

Today I used a recipe from the Pat Divilly Flavoursome Fat Loss booklet but I made a couple of changes due to not having some of the ingredients and a fussy boyfriend!

Ingredients:

-1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced

-1 red onion, chopped - I left this out due to fussy fella (sad face, I know!)

-2 garlic cloves, crushed

-1 red chilli, chopped - if you're not a fan of spicy dishes, don't use that much of the seeds

-Small bunch of coriander, chopped

-1/2 a tsp of cumin seeds - I used 2 tsps of cumin powder as I didn't have any seeds

-1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock (I used chicken)

-Coconut oil

-Coconut milk (approx 150ml) - I added this myself, it's optional. Again, fussy boyfriend problems, it was too spicy for him! But it does add a nice finishing touch :)

Method:

1. Fry the onion, garlic, coriander leaves and chilli in coconut oil for 30 seconds to release the flavour, add the diced butternut squash and cumin and stir for 2 minutes to coat everything in the spice mixture. 

2. Cover the mixture with the stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Let the soup cool for a bit and then blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add coconut milk to taste, again this is optional but it makes it a bit creamier and less spicy if you've added too much chilli. Also, if you are going to add the coconut milk, hold back on the stock a bit, add approx 1 1/4 pints of stock.

I made a wee boo boo with the ingredients when I was reading them, always the case with me! I didn't add enough stock and it was slightly thicker than it should have been I think. But I don't mind a good thick soup so it was tasty all the same. It's all trial and error I suppose so I'll keep at it :)

Here's some pictures of the process and finished result:

I hope you enjoy, if you try out the recipe be sure to let me know how it went and tag my page in some photos! :)

Anyone with other tips/recipes be sure to share!

Aoife xx