Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

*Warning! You WILL need a sharp knife or a strong man with bulging biceps in order to chop some of the harder vegetables, if you have neither be prepared to set aside a good 45 minutes to axe through the veg.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Small butternut squash
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Big parsnip
• 1 Small swede
• 2 Leeks
• 1 Large red onion
• 1.2 Litres of stock, I use veggie stock but feel free to use chicken stock.
• Pinch of ginger
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Method

• You need the oven nice and hot to roast all your lovely veg so whack it up to Gas 6 ( about 200).
• Now comes the workout. If your chopping the veg yourself please be careful, I won't be held accountable if someone loses a finger! Peel, seed and cube the butternut squash (your should be aiming for inch size cubes). Slice your carrots into chunky rounds, cube the swede and the parsnip and thickly slice the leeks. Quarter your onion and throw the whole lot into a large bowl with the olive oil.
• Mix the olive oil through the veg with your hands until it is all well coated in the oil.
• You will need either a big baking tray or two smaller trays. Tip the veg out onto the tray(s) in a single layer. Pop them in the oven for 50minutes to roast. You may need to turn them so they're evenly cooked and brown. When they're done, remove them from the oven and careful transfer the hot veg to a large pan.
• Pour your stock over the veg and bring the whole lot to the boil. Once its bubbling away turn the heat down a smidge and season to taste, simmering for around 10-15 minutes more.
• Transfer the hot soup mix to a food blender (carefully..hot soup+bare skin=third degree burns) and whizz until smooth. Add the spices and whizz for a few seconds more.
• If your eating your soup then and there, return it to the pan to heat through. If your freezing the soup, pour into freezer safe Tupperware, it should last at least 2months, defrost it thoroughly before reheating in a pan. Enjoy with a crusty gluten free roll, a blanket on your lap and an episode of Poirot.

P.s. Please excuse the photo, now along with the flash every snap I take has this sepia effect, in typical Kate fashion I cant locate the instructions, so I'm hoping if i give it a good shake it might just go back to normal.