Lazy Sweet Potato & Squash Soup

So on Thursday I was in a bit of a bad mood. A long day at uni paired with the ever lasting soggy weather had left me in a bit of a slump. I wanted something satisfying yet uncomplicated for dinner as I was feeling pretty lazy, so with the assorted items left over from my Tesco delivery I came up with Spicy Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Soup. Its a simple recipe which makes a really warming and thick soup, the perfect remedy on a cold and wet winters evening!

Ingredients:

• 1 small squash
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 can of butterbeans
• 1 teaspoon of chili paste
• 1 chicken stock cube

Method:

Start by peeling both the squash and potato and dicing into small cubes. Pop them onto a baking tray with a little olive oil and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes until soft. 

Whilst the veg is cooking, slice the onion and fry in a deep pan for 5 minutes until golden brown, when the onion is cooked add the garlic powder (I use garlic powder as it tastes just as good and is only 57p from Lidl, also saves all the peeling and the pain of cleaning out garlic crushers). 

Whilst the onion and garlic sizzle away for a minute, drain the butter beans and then add them to the mixture along with the baked squash and sweet potato and the chili paste. The ingredients in the pan should be quite soft so give them a bit of a mash whilst stirring them with a wooden spoon. Let the mixture fry for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken stock cube and about 700ml of boiling water. Give it a good stir and then let the soup simmer away for about 10 minutes. 

I like my soups quite chunky, so at this point I remove half of the mixture from the pan, and with a hand blender puree the soup in the pan until smooth. Then simply add back the removed portion and you have a smooth soup with a bit of added chunkiness ! Season the soup with salt and pepper and you're done! The recipe makes 3 hearty portions, so you can enjoy some now and freeze the rest for a rainy day!