This Is Not an Egg

I love soups and I am a big fan of butternut squash, so why not make a soup out of it!?

The instructions are easy to follow and I can guarantee the taste is terrific. Plus, your kids will love it too, since it resembles an egg and.. who does not like eggs?

Although it reminds of an egg because of the orange and yellow colours, people with an allergy to eggs can have it and might ask for a second portion too. This recipe is also for vegetarians, but I am afraid this soup is not vegan, since it contains cream and butter. You could substitute the cream with soy cream if you like, as I have done.

For this recipe you will need:

- 500 g butternut squash or pumpkin

- 40 g unsalted butter

- 1 large onion

-150 g double cream

- 50 g single cream (I have used soy cream)

- one vegetable stock cube (or 300ml stock)

- salt

- pepper

You will also need the following tools:

- hand blender

- big pot

- knife

- chopping board

- ladle

- spoon

With the above amounts you will be able to make four portions in total.

Timings:

- prep time 15 minutes

- cooking time 35 minutes

First of all take the onion and cut it in half on the chopping board. Then peel it and finely chop it.

TIP: there is a trick about how not to cry while dicing the onion and it is just using a wet knife or alternatively make sure the onion just exited the fridge. It is as simple as that!

Now it is the time of the butternut squash. Wash it first, to remove dirt and grime. Then place it on the chopping board and cut it in halves. Using a spoon remove the internal seeds. Finally peel it so remove all skin and hard external parts.

Now that the squash is clean and skin-less, cut it into small cubes: slice it first and then make each slice even smaller. You can how big those squash cubes were from the photo I have attached.

At this point all of your main ingredients are ready to be used.

Now it is the time to combine the ingredients altogether in one pot.

Start off by taking the pot, put the butter in and let it melt over a gentle heat.

Once the butter is melted, add the sliced onion and sweat it over a medium heat. Be careful at this step, the onion can get too brown and you do not want that. After 5 minutes add the cubes of butternut squash, stir everything together for another 10 minutes, so that the squash tenders a bit.

When 15 minutes have passed, add the vegetable stock cube to the pot, measure 300 ml of lukewarm water and pour it over the mix, in the pot. At this stage you can increase the heat a little bit. Bring it to boil and let it boil for 15 minutes.

Add salt and pepper.

At this point, take the cream (soy or single cream) and pour 50 g into the pot. Reduce the heat, letting it simmer for the last 10 minutes. Keep it warm but do not allow the soup to boil.

Remove the pot from the heat and blend the soup until smooth. Adjust with salt and pepper according to your preferences.

If you have just one hand blender (as I do), wash it carefully after having blended the soup.

Whip the double cream that you have just taken out from the fridge. Stop whipping the cream as soon as you have reached a firm consistency.

Now it is time to serve the soup. With a ladle, pour the hot soup into the bowls or dishes.

Add one spoon of whipped cream in the middle of the dish and sprinkle with some black pepper to finish off.

Serve immediately.

Does this soup remind you of an egg? :)