Creamy Butternut & Lentil Soup

📝 Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (about 1 kg, i.e. 800 g flesh)
• 200 g red lentils
• 1 brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1.2 l vegetable stock
• 200 ml coconut milk
• Salt, pepper
• 40 g pumpkin seeds
• 4 slices of wholemeal bread (about 160 g)

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish or stockpot
• Stick blender
• Peeler
• Knife and cutting board
• Colander
• Frying pan

📖 Steps

1. Peel the butternut with a vegetable peeler, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and cut the flesh into 2 to 3 cm cubes. Peel and slice the onion, then peel and finely chop the garlic.
2. Rinse the red lentils in the colander under cold water until the water is no longer cloudy. This removes the surface starch that makes the soup foam and stick to the bottom.
3. Heat the oil in the casserole dish over a medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until translucent but not coloured. Add the garlic, curry powder and ginger and stir for 1 minute to toast the spices.
4. Add the butternut cubes and lentils, stir to coat them in the spices, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce to a low heat and simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Stir from time to time, scraping the bottom, as lentils tend to stick. It's done when the squash mashes easily with a fork and the lentils have completely broken down.
6. While it cooks, dry-toast the pumpkin seeds in the frying pan over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until they puff up and start to pop. Set them aside in a bowl, then toast the slices of bread in the same pan.
7. Off the heat, add the coconut milk to the casserole dish and blend with a stick blender until perfectly smooth. Keep the blender head fully submerged to avoid scalding splashes.
8. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, add a little hot water. Serve in bowls, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds, with a slice of toasted wholemeal bread.