Butternut Squash, Celery and Sage Soup

Preheat oven to 180°C (355ºF).

Halve the butternut squash; you’ll need a large knife for this and a little bit of patience. Scoop out the seeds, place on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place squash in the oven and bake for around 1 hour. Check regularly, squash will be cooked when it starts to caramelise and the tip of a knife can be pressed easily in to the flesh. Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

After squash has been cooking for 30 minutes or so, the rest of the soup can be prepared. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large pan or casserole dish. Add chopped onion and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes or until slightly caramelised. Next, add celery, oregano and black pepper. Combine well and then pour in the vegetable stock (see note) and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Whilst soup is cooking, remove skin from the cooling squash. This can be done by either peeling the skin away or by scooping out the flesh with a spoon. Once skin is completely removed, chop squash into chunks and added to the soup. Then add the fresh sage and stir well.

Transfer soup to a blender and blitz until smooth. This is best done in batches to avoid over-filling the blender.

Pass the blended soup through a sieve, taste and add salt and pepper if required. If serving immediately, reheat gently in a pan but do not boil. If storing for another day, do not reheat. Transfer to sealable containers and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Serve in bowls and top with chopped pistachios and crumbled feta cheese if desired.

Note: Don’t add all the stock at once. Add gradually whilst blending until the desired consistency is achieved. If all the stock is used and the soup is still too thick, extra tap water can be added. A good consistency is when the soup just coats the back of a spoon.