Vegetarian Christmas starter recipe for 8 - 10 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has sweet potato, butternut squash, clear honey, olive oil, onion, garlic clove, chicken stock, cinnamon, grated nutmeg, double cream, olive oil, garlic clove, butter, lemon, chive, thyme and ciabatta.
Sweet potato & butternut squash soup with lemon & garlic toast
Course: Vegetarian Christmas starter
Servings
8 - 10
servings
Prep time
30 mins
Ingredients
- Garlic Clove: 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- Olive Oil: 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a drizzle
- Onion: 2 onions, roughly chopped
- Lemon: zest 1 lemon
- Butter: 100g butter, at room temperature
- Cinnamon: 1 tsp cinnamon
- Butternut Squash: 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
- Chive: 2 tbsp snipped chives
- Sweet Potato: 500g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- Thyme: 1 tbsp chopped thyme
- Ciabatta: 2 ciabatta loaves, cut into slices
- Chicken Stock: 1l vegetable or chicken stock
- Double Cream: 100ml double cream
- Clear Honey: 1 tbsp clear honey
- Grated Nutmeg: 1 tsp grated nutmeg
Directions
- Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the sweet potato and butternut squash on a baking tray and add the honey and a drizzle of olive oil. Roast for 40-45 mins until soft and starting to caramelise at the edges, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, fry the onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until soft, then add the garlic, chicken stock, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 5 mins.
- Remove the sweet potatoes and butternut squash from the oven and add to the pan with the stock. Blend everything until smooth using a stick blender. Stir in most of the cream and bring back to a gentle simmer, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To make the lemon & garlic toasts, gently warm the olive oil and garlic in a pan over a low heat for a few mins; the garlic should be softened but not browned. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and lemon zest until smooth. Leave to cool, then stir in the chives and thyme.
- Toast the ciabatta slices, and top each with a spoonful of garlic butter. Serve with the soup, drizzled with the remaining cream, and some black pepper.
