Marcus Bean’s root vegetable soup with cheesy garlic bread
It’s just the thing to keep you cosy in the cold…Marcus Bean’s comforting bowl of root vegetable soup with cheesy garlic bread.
Root vegetable soup with cheesy garlic bread
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For the vegetable soup:1 tsp rapeseed or olive oil 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped 1 celery stem, finely diced1 medium sweet potato, peeled and finely chopped 3 carrots, peeled and chopped300g butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes1 sprig of fresh thyme 1-1.5 litre vegetable stockSalt and pepper, to tasteSmall knob of butter
For the cheesy garlic bread:250g unsalted butter (at room temperature)5-6 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley1 tbsp freshly chopped chives4 Ciabatta rolls250g mature Cheddar, grated
Method
1. Place a large pan on the hob on a medium heat and add the oil. Add onions, celery and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes to soften.
2. Add the chopped celery, sweet potato, carrots, squash & thyme, stir together, then cook for around 5-8 minutes.
3. Pour in the stock, just covering the vegetables, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced.
4. Add the soup mixture into a blender and blitz until partly smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a knob of butter to make the soup silky smooth. Continue blitzing until the texture is silky smooth.
5. If using the seeds of the squash, rinse clean, pat dry season with salt, sugar and cinnamon and roast in the oven at 180℃ for around 5 minutes or until toasted.
6. Serve the seeds on top of the soup.
7. For the garlic bread, mix together the butter, grated garlic and freshly chopped herbs together, and season with salt and pepper if required.
8. Spread generously onto ciabatta bread, then top with grated mature Cheddar and cook under the grill until golden. Serve alongside the soup.