Butternut Soup

Butternut Soup with Sage

olive oil
16 fresh sage leaves
2 red onion, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
½–1 fresh red chilli, to taste, deseeded and finely chopped
Himalayan or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2kg butternut squash, cut into chunks
2 litres good-quality vegetable stock
extra virgin olive oil
for the croutons
extra virgin olive oil
16 slices of ciabatta or gluten free bread
a block of Parmesan cheese, for grating

Put a very large saucepan on a medium heat and pour in a couple of lugs of olive oil. Add the sage leaves and fry for around 30 seconds or until dark green and crisp. Quickly remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl lined with kitchen paper – you’ll use these for sprinkling over at the end. In the pan you’ll be left with a beautifully flavoured oil, so put it back on the heat and throw in your onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary leaves, chilli, salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are sweet and soft. Add the squash and the stock to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for around half an hour.
While the soup is cooking, make your croutons. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bread, pat it in and press some grated Parmesan on to each side. Place in a non-stick pan without any oil and ‘fry’ until golden on both sides. Alternatively you can toast the slices in the oven.
When the squash is soft and cooked through, blend the soup with a hand blender or pour it into a liquidizer and pulse until you have a smooth purée or leave it slightly chunky if you like:). Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. To serve, divide the soup between your bowls, placing 2 croutons on top of each. Sprinkle with a few of your crispy sage leaves and drizzle with a swirl of good-quality extra virgin olive oil.