(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free| Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) I’ve always wanted to be that person who whips out fresh, homemade and healthy soups on the reg(ular). But, I’m not. I rarely make soup because I basically have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to creating delightful soup that fills you up for a meal without bread. The other day, though, I had so much veg to get through before I went away for the weekend that a friend recommended I make soup. Great idea! But how? I turned to my old friends Hemsley and Hemsley who showed me the light to this gorgeous, easy recipe that’s also very filling. My boyfriend described the soup: ‘if it was packaged in M&S, I would have bought it’ –which I see as a real win, since M&S do know what’s up in the world of soup!

Ingredients

• 3 kg (6.5lb) butternut squash (I didn’t have this so I used a small pumpkin and two sweet large sweet potatoes instead!)
• 2 kg (4lbs) fresh tomatoes or passata or 3 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes
• 3 large onions, roughly chopped
• 1 whole garlic bulb
• 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
• 4 tsp of fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 5 litres vegetable stock (more or less depending how thick you like your soups)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or flaxseed oil, to drizzle
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Parmesan shavings (if you’re not going dairy free) and extra finely chopped rosemary leaves, to garnish (optional- if you’re feeling fancy)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (400F)
2. Halve the squash (or pumpkin in my case –along with sliced sweet potatoes) and fresh tomatoes, if using, and lay on one or two baking trays, flesh side up. Don’t bother removing seeds of squash (or pumpkin)! Add the chopped onion and whole garlic bulb. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes until the squash (or pumpkin) is tender.
3. Gently heat the ghee (or coconut oil) in a large saucepan (big enough for all soup ingredients to be in) and fry the rosemary for a few minutes. If you’re using tinned tomatoes or passata, add them now and let the tomato sauce simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the roasted onions, roasted fresh tomatoes, if using, and any juice to the saucepan. Scoop out the squash flesh (and seeds), squeeze 6 cloves of roasted garlic out of their skins (you can use the remaining roasted garlic in sauce or dressings) and add to the pan too.
5. Cover with broth, starting with just over litre, turn up the heat and bring to a medium simmer. Simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes to let the flavours combine, adding more bone broth if it seems too thick. Blend until smooth with hand mixer and season to taste.
6. Drizzle each bowl with EVOO or flaxseed old and ad d a few parmesan shavings and some finely chopped rosemary leaves.

Tip: I froze this soup and ate it when I was back from the weekend; it worked great!

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’