Onion squash soup

This squash has many names: Red Kuri squash, Japanese squash, Onion squash etc. The name commonly used in the UK is Onion squash, so that's what I'm using as well. It's one of my favourite squashes due to its chestnutty flavour, and today I made a soup with it. For many years as a vegetarian, squashes weren't part of my diet as they weren't so much readily available, and now I know what a loss it was. These days I can't imagine a diet without different squashes as they are so versatile, healthy and tasty.

Here's how this easy soup can be made.

1 medium onion squash

3 shallots

4 garlic cloves

300g baby new potatoes

2tbsp vegetable stock powder + 1l water

2tbsp olive oil

1tsp salt

1tsp white ground pepper

1tsp thyme

1tsp parsley

Peel the squash, remove the seeds and then dice it. Chop the shallots and garlic finely and quarter the potatoes. There's no need to peel them as new potatoes have very thin skins. Prepare the vegetable stock by combining the vegetable stock powder with water.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the shallots and garlic until soft. Add the squash and potato cubes into the pan and cook for a few minutes. Then add the vegetable stock and simmer under the lid until the squash and potatoes are fully cooked.

Stir occasionally and season with salt, white pepper, thyme and parsley. Fresh herbs give more flavour, but dried ones are also fine for this soup. Serve the soup with earthy rye bread and enjoy!

Your VegHog