Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup and Rustic Bacon and Cheddar Bread

I love soups and my family and I welcome a steaming bowl of home-made soup on a cold autumn’s day or evening served with your favourite crusty bread. This Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup is easy, quick and delicious. The sausages add a yummy touch and something I would never have thought to add to a bowl of soup but it works! I made some Rustic Bacon and Cheddar Bread to serve with the soup. This savoury bread is seriously easy and loaded with cheese and bacon. A delicious bread that is full of flavour and perfect to serve with soup or eaten on its own.


Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
7 juniper berries
1 ½ tsp caraway seeds
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 small parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
6 pure pork sausages
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF/gas mark 5.

Crush the juniper berries and caraway seeds with a pestle and mortar. Put all the vegetables, the oil, spices and seasoning in a large roasting pan and mix with your hands until the vegetables are well coated with the oil and spices. Pop into the oven for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are golden and soft, turning over once halfway through cooking, to ensure they are evenly roasted. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Meanwhile, fry the sausages in a large pan.

Puree the vegetables with enough water to give a lovely soupy consistency and season to taste. Remove the sausages from the pan and slice them. Pour the soup into the pan, add the sausages, stir through, then reheat.

Recipe from Soups & Stews by Sophie Conran



Rustic Bacon and Cheddar Bread

Makes 1 Loaf

Ingredients
320g (11½ oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
100g (3½ oz)Cheddar cheese, grated
100g (3½ oz) bacon lardons, cooked until just crisp in a little sunflower oil and cooled
200ml (7fl oz) milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
60ml (2fl oz) olive oil

13 x 23cm (5x9in) loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 180OC (350oF), Gas mark 4. Lightly oil and line the loaf tin with parchment paper.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the grated cheese and the cooled bacon lardons and mix well. Pour the milk into a large measuring jug, add the eggs, mustard and olive oil and whisk to combine.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the liquid, stirring all the time until it is fully incorporated, to form a fairly liquid dough. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Remove from the tin and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes on the oven shelf to crisp up the bottom. When cooked, it will sound hollow when tapped on the base. Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating.

Recipe from Bake by Rachel Allen