A festive and filling Winter soup, this is a perfect mid-week dinner recipe or warming lunch. The addition of orange makes the soup a little more Christmassy and zingy, too – plus, it’ll boost your daily intake of vitamin C! I love serving this with warm homemade sourdough bread and lots of local butter. Give it a try! From an Ayurvedic perspective, this soup helps balance all the doshas (mind-body types).

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INGREDIENTS

(serves 4, with enough left over for lunch)

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 red or white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 litre stock or bone broth
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp asafoetida (or ‘hing’)
• ¼ tsp Chinese Five Spice
• 1 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
• Zest of ½ orange
• Juice of 1 whole orange
• Salt and pepper to taste

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METHOD

1. Prepare the squash first so it’s ready, by chopping into small cubes
2. Heat half the coconut oil or ghee in a large pan
3. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, and sauté for a couple of minutes
4. Add the spices and temper for a couple of minutes
5. Add the butternut squash and the rest of the coconut oil or ghee, stir well to coat with the spices and cook for around 10 minutes. Make sure the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn!
6. Meanwhile, prepare your stock or bone broth, and the orange zest and juice
7. Add the broth to the pan and bring to a simmer, then add the coconut milk
8. Simmer gently for around 20 minutes, then add the orange zest and stir
9. Continue simmering for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the orange juice
10. Cool slightly, then blend with a hand blender – taste to see if you want to add salt and pepper at this point too.

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Heat again just before serving with a slice of warm bread and butter.

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Enjoy!

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