Comfort Butternut Squash Quinoa Soup
"Butternut squash quinoa soup is great comfort food, and is our version of squash (pumpkin) soup, so well-loved around the world. If you enjoy butternut squash soup, try this recipe for some real international flair. Roast some butternut squash with garlic, cumin and honey and then use this as the base for the soup. For a sublime soup, blend it until smooth (but you can also just leave it chunky for great comfort food). Top with a garnish of spiced quinoa."
Serves6 People
Preparation Time20 min
Cooking Time1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
- 2 (2-pound) butternut squash (pumpkin) cut in half lengthways with seeds removed
- 2 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes dried, red
- salt, ground sea
- black pepper, ground
- 5 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1 cup quinoa
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Pre-heat oven to 350 f (180 c
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Place the garlic cloves in the hollows of the butternut squash. Drizzle the olive oil and the honey over the garlic and squash halves. Then sprinkle the cumin and dried red chilli flakes over everything. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour.
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Meanwhile make the spiced quinoa. Rinse the quinoa with water and then soak for 15 minutes by adding the quinoa and 1 & 1/4 cups of water to a saucepan. After the 15 minutes, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork and let cool. Drain and place the cooked quinoa in a bowl add the remaining spiced quinoa ingredients and stir to combine. Put aside.
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When the squash is cooked, pour any liquid that has accumulated in the hollows, into a large saucepan. Allow the squash to cool for 10 minutes and when cool enough to handle, use a spoon to remove the squash flesh and spices and add to the saucepan. Add the chicken stock. When the soup boils, cover and then simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Use a stick blender to puree the soup.
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Serve the soup into bowls and top with the spiced quinoa.