Just Loving Autumn #2 - Butternut Squash Soup, with a hint of Bacon

Hi there everyone

I've got another of my real 🍁Autumn favourites🍁 for you this week ... home made soup.

We had a soup maker for Christmas a couple of years ago and, after spending a while wondering whether we would ever use it, it has definitely ended up earning its keep.

It has been languishing at the back of the cupboard over the Summer months but the onset of  🍁Autumn🍁 has seen it back in full force, working overtime.

One of the most popular posts on my blog ever, is one of my favorite soup recipes, so I'm guessing you guys are loving it too. If you've not tried it yet you can find the recipe for Dad's Tomato Soup here.

Over the last few weeks I've been experimenting with another favourite, butternut squash, and I think I've now got another recipe worth sharing.

Butternut squash is a real winner as a soup ingredient. It always turns out thick, smooth and creamy and it has a real taste of 🍁Autumn🍁, reminiscent of Halloween and bonfire nights. That extra bit of smokiness from the bacon, really just finishes it off nicely.

Ingredients
Serves 4

4 slices lean smoked bacon, cut into small chunks
Half a decent sized butternut squash, cubed
1 medium size sweet potato, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 pint vegetable stock

Our soup maker is a Morphy Richards Saute and Soup and I always start this soup off by searing off the bacon for about 3 minutes.

Then I just throw in the rest of the vegetables, sprinkle with the ginger and continue to sear for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

It's then time to add the stock and switch over to the soup making function.

21 minutes later and here you go ... The smoothest, creamiest, 🍁autumnal🍁 bowl full of goodness you could wish for with just a hint of smokiness from the bacon and just the right amount of heat from the ginger. It really is 🍁Autumn🍁 in a bowl ...

Not got a soup maker? Don't worry, you can still easily make this soup on the hob. Just saute the bacon, add the vegetables and ginger and saute until the veg starts to go softer, add the stock and simmer until all of the veg is fully cooked through. Then blend to the consistency you like.

Enjoy 😋

Dad's Tomato Soup ... in the Soup Maker!

We had this Morphy Richards soup maker from some good friends as a Christmas gift.

If I'm totally honest, our initial reaction was ... "Why would anyone need a soup maker? After all, what's wrong with a big pan?" This thought was swiftly followed by ... "Oh no! Another kitchen gadget to find a home for."

We couldn't see ourselves using it and imagined it would languish at the back of the cupboard with the steamer, the ice cream maker and the bread maker.

Being given it as a gift did spur us to clear out all of the kitchen cupboards in order to at least find a home for it and we decided to just give it a try to see what it was like.

One of our favourite soups and the first we tried was Dad's tomato soup. I'm not sure where he originally had the recipe from but it's our 'go to' recipe for tomato soup.

It's dead simple to make, uses lots of lovely veggies and turns out perfect every time. And what's more, it has no syns in it all if you're following the Slimming World way of eating.

Ingredients
1 red pepper
1 sweet potato
2 sticks of celery
1 onion
Frylight
Pinch of chilli flakes
600g ripe tomatoes
1 pint vegetable stock
Worcestershire sauce
Basil

Start by chopping the red pepper, sweet potato, celery and onion.




Switch the soup maker on to the sauté setting and spray with Frylight. It only takes a few seconds to heat up. Throw in the chopped veg with the pinch of chilli flakes and sauté for a maximum if 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.






In the meantime chop the tomatoes and prepare your stock.




Throw the tomatoes into the soup maker add the stock, basil and as much Worcestershire sauce as you fancy and add the lid.

We like our soup smooth and creamy so we set the programme to smooth, but there is the option to set for a chunkier soup if you prefer it this way.





That is basically it. The timer shows how long it will take to make the soup and you can see it counting down. I think it starts at just over 20 minutes. Just enough time to put the kitchen back together and load the dish washer.

The first time we made the soup we got the fright of our lives as part way through the programme the motor started up to blend the soup.

When the programme is finished, all you need to do is turn off the soup maker and remove the lid. So far we have had a perfectly smooth and creamy soup every time. We've made quite a variety and each one has turned out really well.

At maximum capacity the soup maker makes enough soup for 4 decent sized portions, which surprised us as it didn't seem very big and the fill level is quite low, to account for the space that the blender part takes up.

I pour mine into takeaway containers ready for freezing, have a quick taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. At this point you need to make sure you have a plate or something to rest the lid and motor part on as, if you don't, soup will drip everywhere which could be a bit of a pain.

All that is then left to do is to clean the soup maker, which can be a bit of a faff but is fairly straightforward. I just tend to swill out the jug straight away with hot water and then just run the blender part under the tap. Give both parts a quick wipe over and it's ready to go away for next time.

I do believe you can get soup makers with a self cleaning function, which would be good.

So ... Our verdict on the soup maker, now that we've given it a good test run ...

We like ...

• how easy it is to use
• the sauté function
• the quantity it makes
• the fact that once it's started off you can just leave it
• the consistency of quality of the soups we've made so far

It would be even better if ...

• it had a self clean function
• it made an even greater quantity

Overall, I think we can safely say it was a pretty decent pressie and we will get lots of use from it, so thank you Jo, Steve, Hannah and Megan!