Hazelnut Squash Soup
Experience the winter flavours of this delicious Hazelnut Butternut Squash Soup. A soothing combination of creamy butternut, rich hazelnuts, and a hint of harissa
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 large Butternut Squash
- 1 litre Vegetable stock (Chicken stock if you wish)
- 100 ml Double/ Thick cream
- 100 grams Hazelnuts (Skinless if possible or see Recipe Notes on how to remove the skin)
- 2 tbsp Harissa paste (Or Chilli Flakes as an alternative)
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
Prep
- Chop the onion, no need to cut too fine
- Roughly chop the garlic
- Peel, remove seeds and chop the butternut squash into chunks/ cubes
- Remove thyme leaves from the stems and roughly chop
- If you need to remove the skins from your hazelnuts, do it here (See Recipe Notes)
- Weigh/ measure your other ingredients
To Make
- Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onions, give them a pinch of salt and cook, covered, for 4-5 minutes until softened.Stir occasionally to avoid them catching
- Add the garlic, stir well and cook for another minute or so
- Add the butternut squash, stir well and cook for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally
- Add the stock and harissa paste and bring to a slow simmer. Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- While the soup is cooking, add your skinned hazelnuts back to the pan over a medium high heat. Add a pinch of salt and the chopped thyme leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring or tossing in the pan constantly. Remove from the pan and give them a rough chop
- Add the cream to the soup and blitz well using either a stick blender or a blender. Adjust salt and pepper seasoning to taste
To Serve
- Serve the soup in warmed bowls and with a garnish of a swirl of cream and a sprinkle of the chopped nuts and thyme
Notes
Skinning Hazelnuts - Get a clean tea towel on your work surface and in a hot pan, toast your skin on hazelnuts for a minute or so, swirling the pan or stirring often. Pour the nuts onto your tea towel and gather up the corners, twisting it until the nuts are in a tight little package. Rub the nuts together through the tea towel for a couple of minutes and then carefully lay down and open. Most of the nuts will be clean of their skin, remove them and place to the side. With any nuts holding on to their skins, repeat the process. The odd bit of skin in the final dish won't be a problem so don't fret about it, but do wash your tea towel, it'll be in a sad state
Nutrition
Calories: 353kcal
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