Soup, Glorious Soup!

Last evening ended a difficult job, and hopfully this monday will be the begining of a new positive and beautiful journey...

This will be something that time alone can tell. I am generally looking forward to being able to spend a little more time with the kids.

Last evening, I cooked a rich, comforting and rather satisfying soup. The bulk of the efforts were really done in two key steps - the first one consisted of roasting the garlic and squash and the second step was slow cooking the leeks.

If you like garlic the way we do, you will enjoying being in the kitchen during the roasting process since the kitchen warms up to a nice, rich and toasty smell.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Garlic and Leek soup.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

1 butternut squash

1 head of garlic (6 pods are needed for this recipe)

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 cup of thinly chopped leeks

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

4 cups water

1 cup light cream

2 teaspoons salt

1 handful parsley

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut the base and top of the garlic bulb.

3. Place the garlic in a piece of foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Close the foil.

4. Place the garlic and the squash in the oven and cook for about 35-40 minutes.

5. In the meantime, heat the remaining oil and add the cumin seeds and the leeks.

6. Cook the leeks on very low heat until soft and lightly browned. This process takes about 15 minutes and the leeks need to be stirred frequently during this process.

7. Remove the squash from the oven, peel and remove the seeds.

8. Place the flesh into the pot with the leeks.

9. Unwrap the garlic, pop about 6-8 cloves of the roasted garlic and place into the cooking pot.

10. Add all the remaining ingredients except the parsley and simmer for 10 minutes.

11. Cool slightly, add the parsley and puree in a blender and puree until smooth.

12. Serve warm or hot.