Butternut Squash and Saffron Soup with caramelised pistachios and herb salsa

Falastin; Sami Tamimi / Tara Wrigley

Serves 4

The Soup
2 ½ tbsp olive oil
2 Large onions - roughly chopped
5 Garlic cloves - crushed
1 Large butternut squash - peeled, deseeded and cut into approx 1 ½ cm dice*
(1kg)
1 Large potato - peeled and cut into approx 1 ½ cm dice (250g)
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp saffron threads
1 litre of vegetable stock
salt and black pepper

• You can buy frozen diced butternut squash - so much easier.

Caramelised pistachios
150g pistachio kernels
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp orange blossom water
2 tsp golden syrup
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp sea salt

Herb Salsa
15g parsley leaves - finely chopped
10g oregano leaves - finely chopped
1 banana shallot - finely chopped
½ tsp chilli flakes
120 ml olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 150 deg C Fan / Gas Mk 3

Put the oil into a large saucepan for which you have a lid and place over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 10 - 12 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant., then add the squash, potato, paprika, saffron, vegetable stock, 2 tsp of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to the boil on a medium / high heat and then reduce to a simmer for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and cooked through.

Whilst the soup is cooking make the salsa and the caramelised pistachios.

Put all the ingredients for the salsa in a bowl with a little salt and black pepper, mix well and set aside.

Mix all the ingredients for the pistachios together, tip the mixture out onto baking parchment and then bake for about 15 minutes, until the nuts are golden brown and the caramel is bubbling. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool, chop roughly when they are cool. Or just plonk them in whole!

Blitz the soup as much as you like, you can go to really smooth or just half blitz it so there is still some texture. I blitzed it a little with the hand blender leaving a quite a few chunks, which worked well.

When ready to serve, serve the soup and top with the salsa and the pistachios.