14. Food for the soul - my recipe

Aaahhh...gorgeous! Truly gorgeous. I made and ate my soup...mmmmm.

Chris had to go and post some 'proof of contact with his son' for the last 4 years to the CSA as his ex told them that he hasn't maintained any contact at all - which means she gets more money and he has been overpaying for the last 4 years as a result. She recently told them that he still had no contact, even though we collect and drop off his son every other weekend, on Wednesday evenings and 3 weeks of holiday over the year, hence request for proof and a refund of money. She is a bare faced liar. Will she get in trouble? No...good old fairness again. Excellent!

Anyway, he returned with a lovely soft baguette in tow and I served our favourite soup for which I have posted the recipe - if you are interested. It is far too good to keep to myself!

The biggest saucepan you have
Olive oil to just cover bottom of pan
Sage - dried - teaspoon
Rosemary - dried - teaspoon
(pestle and mortar together to powder and put into oil and heat gently for 2 mins)
Ground Pepper - a good grinding of fresh peppercorns
Chilli Powder - heaped tip of a teaspoon - just for a little zazz!
Onion - chopped
(Add to oil and fry off for 2 mins)
4-6 rashers of smoked bacon or lardons if you have them - 6 rashers gives good flavour without overpowering the butternut squash
(cook off for 2-3 mins stirring into onions, oil and herbs)
2 large carrots or 4 smaller ones - peeled and chopped
Butternut squash - peeled and chopped
(add both carrots and squash to pan of lovely bits and bobs and cover on med-low heat for 5 mins, stirring occasionally)
1 (or 2) veg stock cubes (depending on your tastebuds)
1 litre of boiling water
(when dissolved, add to pan. Must just cover the pan contents. If not, add another half or whole veg stock cube and make up with 500ml of boiling water as before and add until covering ingredients)

Bring to boil for 2 mins and then simmer for 20.
Take a slotted spoon, scoop out the veg and bacon bits and blend.
Add the blended soup back to pan and repeat until all the veg and bacon is blended up and mixed back together in the pan. Reheat gently if necessary.

Serve with crusty bread rolls...enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

For those that don't think they like butternut squash - just try this..it is DIVINE!

Freezes well and warms your very soul. Yum! Yum! In my tum!

And now for some more job hunting..wish me luck