I must confess that Gorgeous Hubby is usually the soup maker in our house, he seems to make the most tasty soup out of any old left overs, from a chicken carcass to the tops of the leeks that he has left over after making his gorgeous risotto, that most people would normally throw away, but this is one of mine and I first made it as a starter for Christmas Day.
 
It’s probably not very seasonal, but thought I would add it now anyway and I hope you enjoy it.
 
Buon appetito.
 
Serves 8 – 10 as a start, 6 as a main course.
 
1 onion peeled and roughly chopped
1 butternut squash (unpeeled), halved, deseeded and sliced into 3cm x 2cm chunks
500g sweet potato (unpeeled), cut into 3cm rings
60ml olive oil
teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1.5 litres vegetable stock
125ml marsala wine
salt and pepper
 
For serving :
125g crumbled blue cheese
250ml buttermilk
 
Preheat the oven to 200c, gas 6. Put the chopped onion, chopped butternut squash and sweet potato onto a baking sheet.
 
Drizzle the oil over them and sprinkle with the cinnamon and nutmeg, then roast in the oven for about 1 – 1 1/4 hours, by which time all should be tender. Remove from the oven.
 
While the vegetables are still warm or at room temperature, liquidize them in 2 batches, adding 500ml of vegetable stock to each batch.
 
Pour the blended vegetables into a saucepan. swill another 500ml of vegetable stock in the blender to get out all the remnants of the soup, and pour into the pan. You have now added 1.5 litres of liquid to the vegetables.
 
On reheating to serve, add the marsala and taste for seasoning. You may need to add up to another 500ml of water if the soup’s too thick for your liking.
 
As the soup warms up, liquidize the blue cheese and buttermilk in a clean blender and spoon into a jug or bowl.
 
On serving, drizzle some of this mixture over each bowl. Leave the jug on the table for your guests to have more if they wish.
 
If you want to make this ahead, cool, cover & keep in the fridge up to 3 days, just reheat adding the marsala & more water if needed. Also follow the above steps if you want to freeze it, keeps in the freezer for up to 2 months.
 
I have made this a couple of times now and each time I have left out the butternut squash as I don’t like it, but it still tastes amazing. I have also made it without the marsala for the children, still yummy. Its just one of those soups that you can dress up or down, depending on the occasion, just like a little black dress.