A heartwarming, wintery and delicious soup full of our favourite winter ingredients! The butternut pumpkin, beans, lentils and chickpeas plus the variety of herbs served with some golden crispy garlic bread makes this dish perfect for a winter day.

INGREDIENTS

Soup:

• 1 x onion (diced)
• 1 x clove garlic (finely diced)
• 4 x celery sticks (diced)
• 2 x carrots (diced)
• 1 x whole butternut pumpkin (diced)
• 2 x large potatoes (diced)
• 1 x can of chickpeas
• 1 x can of brown lentils
• 1 x can of cannellini beans
• 1 x sprig of rosemary leaves (chopped roughly, sprig removed)
• 1 x bay leaf
• bunch of thyme
• bunch of fresh oregano / 1 tbsp of dry oregano 
• 25g of butter

Garlic bread:

• 1 x loaf of fresh sourdough bread
• 30g of butter
• 2 x cloves of garlic 
• 1 x rosemary sprigs

METHOD

1. Place the onion, celery, garlic and carrots into a large pot with melted butter and cook for 7 minutes stirring occasionally. 
2. Add the butternut squash as well as the rosemary, bay leaf, thyme and oregano to the pot and mix them through. Pour enough water into the pot until it’s three quarters full. Then bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat so that the soup is simmering. 
3. After 30 minutes add the chickpeas, brown lentils, cannellini beans and potatoes and season well. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Slice the bread and top it with butter, crushed garlic, rosemary and salt. Place into the oven for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown and the butter has melted through.
5. After the soup has been cooking for 50 minutes add 2 cups of water then remove half of the liquid and pour into a blender/food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth and creamy then pour it back into the pot of soup. 
6. Cook for another 10 minutes, adding any extra seasonings.
7. Serve the soup warm with the garlic bread. 

Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Recipe and photos by Anastasia Zolotarev. Click here to see her blog.