Butternut Squash Soup

Here's an easy soup that's always popular whenever I serve it. I don't know its origins, but it works a treat.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
1 oz butter
1 butternut squash
2 pints of vegetable stock
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
salt and pepper
chili powder

Preparation
Chop the onion and sweat it in 1 oz butter for ten to fifteen minutes. Shred the bacon finely and add to the butter and onion. Peel the butternut squash—a job that will bring strength to your wrists and orange to your fingertips. Scoop out the seeds and chop into inch cubes.

Add the butternut squash pieces to the pan containing the onions and continue to sweat them all for a few minutes. Add half a teaspoon of chili powder (the curry powder given below works very nicely, too, although you may need a bit more of it than the chili powder), a pinch of salt and a twist or two of black pepper.

Now add the stock. You could use either chicken or vegetable stock, but it helps to use a reasonable one. In the absence of any home-made stock—I have a job, a daughter to get to school, and a conspicuous absence of kitchen staff—like George I cheat and use a shop-bought concentrate. The Greasy Truckers' current favourite is the Knorr 'Touch of Taste' liquid concentrate range. Three tablespoons of it will make a couple of pints of stock. The beef one works well in the French Onion Soup recipe below.

Simmer gently until the butternut squash is cooked. This should take around twenty minutes or so. Liquidize it until it's smooth—I use a stick blender, but a liquidizer or food processor would do. Season to taste and serve.