peel - Travels for Taste

As spring begins to unfold and the weather changes to beautiful sunny days and chilly evenings, I like that we can still enjoy warming and wholesome soups. Butternut squash is so versatile and there are various ways to use it in soups, curries, salads, etc.

Soup and stews are a great meal option for so many reasons, here are my top 5 reasons why I enjoy cooking both:

Delicious, hearty and wholesome
Easy, fuss-free one-pot style cooking, saves time
Great for batch-cooking
Ideal for busy mid-week meals
Easy to please fussy eaters!
Just combine with bread, various toppings and add an extra dash of something special
Add lentils to bulk out soups and stews

This recipe is created by Chef Annie James at Sunrise of Tettenhall for Sunrise Senior Living who make sure that all of their recipes are nutritious and tasty, making them great for everyone, not just the elderly. Of the many recipe options, they sent me I choose to make this one because I simply adored red lentils as those who read my blog will know. The buttery aroma of onions sauteing which filled my kitchen was simply amazing and very satisfying. Needless to say, the soup went down and treat and even normally fussy hubster greedily licked his bowl clean – no better compliment than that folks isn’t it? I must admit I couldn’t resist adding a bit of my own personal finishing touches as my palate is so used to all the spicy and tangy little add-on’s that I normally use 😉

Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup

Chef Annie James at Sunrise of Tettenhall for Sunrise Senior Living

Hearty and delicious Butternut squash soup with added protien and taste with quick cooking red lentils

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 4 people

Equipment

Saucepan

Ingredients

400 ml vegetable stock
150 gms Butternut Squash – peeled and diced into bite-sized bits
60 gms Dried red lentil i.e. masoor dal – split without skin
3 Carrots – peeled and diced into small bits
2 Red onion – peeled and chopped fine
12 gms Unsalted butter
Sea salt with a hint of garlic
Freshly cracked black pepper
A small quantity of fresh coriander to garnish

Instructions

In a large saucepan or stockpot melt the butter on a medium flame
Sauté’ the finely chopped onions in the butter for just under 4- 5 minutes till they turn a beautiful golden-brown colour and reduce
Then add in the chopped carrots, squash, and sauté’ for a further 2- 3 minutes.
Now stir in the vegetable stock and the red lentils
Reduce to a low flame and let the soup simmer gently
Cook until the vegetables and lentils are tender
Allow the soup to cool down to room temperature, then using a hand blender puree’ until smooth, or as I did, give it a whizz in your food processor
Season with sea salt with garlic or plain sea salt and add a generous sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper
Garnish with just a small amount of finely chopped fresh coriander
Serve hot ideally with a slice of warm crusty bread with a dollop of butter. If your conscience allows it stir in a small amount of fresh cream into the soup or smother your crusty bread with some freshly made garlic butter

Keyword Butternut Squash Soup

Looking for easy to make, delicious Soup and Stew* recipes? Why not browse through some of my easy to follow recipes:*

*With thanks to Sunrise Senior Living and the PR team for reimbursing the expense for ingredients. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Hello Everyone!

I have been away on a long holiday in Indian for almost four weeks. I got back last week and it has taken my system a few days to throw off the jet-lag completely and my internal thermostat to acclimatise to the massive difference in the weather.But am back now all refreshed and raring to go! So expect a lot of new and fun recipes, LOTS of travel posts and many photographs from my foodie and travel adventures – oh yes not to mention more exciting competitions, fabulous restaurant reviews and events that I will be going to soon – woohoo!

While I was in India I did a fair bit of travelling to Chennai, Pondicherry and shuttling between Mumbai and Pune. So all the resulting fatigue has taken it’s toll too.

Besides have discovered that I do have a fair amount of catching up to do with my blogging as well. hummm

So dinner the day after I landed had had to be a simple affair, because my body clock was still following IST. We decided to make a quick and super easy yet delicious Turkey, Ham and cheese tart using my own recipe. Hubster and me are both big fans of Jus-Rol as it really can save the day when things are crazy busy or plain lazy 😉

I have made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe but other than that it was smooth sailing. Here is my version:

Prep. Time: Less than 10 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

Total Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

320 gm Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet
2 medium onion peeled & chopped fine
100 gm cooked ham diced
1-2 tbsp oil
3 heaped tbsp Gran Luchito smoked chilli honey
250 gm cooked turkey diced
Salt & black pepper
75 gm grated Parmesan Cheese

Method:

Heat oil in a large pan, gently sauté the onion until it is translucent, then add the diced ham and cook on a low flame for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile remove the Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet and allow it to rest while the filling is being prepared.
Add the turkey,season to taste and then add the smoked chilli honey. Stir continuously to ensure the chilli honey does not burn and cook on a gentle, low flame for a further 2 minutes.
Prepare a baking tray by lining with a baking sheet and carefully place the Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet onto the baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 220°C/(200°C for fan assisted ovens)/Gas 7.
Spoon out the turkey and ham mixture onto the baking sheet and sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the mixture.
Bake in the preheated for 20 minutes and serve hot.

I remember going to buy Jus- Rol at a supermarket two years ago post Christmas and it simply wasn’t available anywhere. Clearly people had been smart and stocked up on this lifesaving fridge fav for all those leftover meals after the big day. And have since then made a mental note to stock up well in advance for future occasions. There have been numerous dinners and surprise tea time treats for unannounced but welcome visitors who have been fed piping hot treats with several hot cuppas thanks to that pastry roll lying in my fridge! So like many of my store cupboard essentials this is one of my life savers and will almost always be found living in my refrigerator.

I loved this recipe and now am looking forward to more experiments with Jus-Rol .

If you need more inspiration to get creative with Jus-Rol why not check out these gorgeous recipes on the Jus-Rol website ?

*With thanks to Jus-Rol and the PR team for sending vouchers to buy some samples of Jus-Rol for review . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup