Creamy Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Soup

Hello dear reader,

I am usually quite organised when it comes to using up my veg but I recently found a forgotten Butternut Squash that had slipped behind the bread bin un-noticed.  Having hidden there for a few weeks, it had started to feel un-loved and was beginning to get a tad forlorn looking.  The only thing to be done for it was to make it into some delicious soup – but it was going to need a bit of extra help to be flavourful!  I thought it would pair nicely with hazelnut and so was born this soup.

Cream of butternut squash and hazelnut soup
Creamy Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Soup – recipe

– 1 red onion, sliced
– 1 tsp oil (I use cold-pressed rape-seed oil but use whatever is local to you)
– 1 butternut squash, chopped (skin on*)
– 2 cloves garlic, sliced
– ¼ pint hazelnut milk
– 2 tbsp hazelnut meal, or 1 tbsp chopped hazelnuts
– ½ pint vegetable stock
– salt and pepper
– freshly chopped herbs to serve

Method
Heat the oil over a medium heat, add the onion and fry for a minute. Add the squash and fry for a couple of minutes until it is lightly charred on all sides. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil and then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash is tender. Liquidise, adjust seasoning and serve topped 
with some freshly chopped herbs – I like chives or coriander on top.

*By the way, I always leave the skin on my butternut squash.  It makes it much quicker and easier to prepare the dish.  The skin adds extra flavour and nutrients and the whole thing gets blitzed before serving anyway, so it is unnoticeable in the end.

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The hazelnut milk makes the soup so creamy that you’d never guess it was vegan! I love the flavour combination of the butternut squash and the hazelnut, especially with lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Vohn

x

P.S.  I am entering my Creamy Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Soup into the No Croutons Required blog challenge run by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa from Lisa’s Kitchen, with Lisa hosting this month.  This challenge is all about vegetarian soups and salads, so my soup is perfect for it, in fact this soup is suitable for vegans too.

no croutons required

26 comments

  1. I’m glad that squash didn’t go to waste. Lovely soup. Thanks for sharing with NCR.

    • Thanks Lisa! Almost nothing goes to waste in my house – finding a whole forgotten squash was like finding treasure! x

  2. The soup sounds lovely. I’ve never tried hazelnut milk before but I love the sound of it, and together with the hazelntuts it must give this soup a wonderful nuttiness.

    • Thanks Corina. Nut milk is so easy to make at home and keeps out the nasty additives in most store-bought brands. It goes with so many things, it is really worth trying. x

  3. I made butternut squash soup for the first time a couple of months ago and loved it! I’m eager to try your recipe for a different variation of it.

    • Thanks April. Butternut squash makes such an awesome soup and the hazelnuts just seem to belong with it! x

  4. I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes recently with nuts being added to soups. I’ve never done it, but keep meaning to. Squash soup is probably my most favorite of all and I bet it’s delicious with hazelnuts.

    • Thanks for popping by Choclette. I hadn’t consciously noticed nutty soup recipes abounding – they must have got into my sub-conscious without me even noticing! I could eat hazelnuts with anything though! x

    • Thanks Kate. It was one of those random thoughts – you know the ones you have no idea where they came from but you know instantly that they will work! It worked so well that I finished the whole pot of soup in one sitting!

    • Thank you Jean. I’m loving soup just now – it is still cold enough here that it is a much needed warmer, especially after any outdoor work! Brrr! Vohn x

  5. Vohn I feel as though you were talking to me because that happens to me with forgotten veg! And I have some hazelnut meal so this would be perfect 🙂

    • Ha – thanks Lorraine! I’d love to know what you think of it if you do make it. Vohn x

  6. auntbeesrecipes says:

    Looks so tasty!

    • Thanks Brandi – it was tasty & very more-ish! x

  7. At first glance, I thought that said buttercream squash haha. Speed reading at this time of night isn’t the best idea 🙂 I love the idea of adding nuts to a soup! I NEVER do it, but always think I could really dig that sorta thing. Also, I can’t do soupy soups in the spring & summer, but I’ve pinned this to my secret “recipes to make in the fall & winter” board & I WILL be making it the other side of August! Looks and sounds incredible!

    • Haha Anyonita – now there’s an idea – buttercream in soup! I adore hazelnuts & could eat them in pretty much anything! Vohn x

  8. Looks and sounds yum. Once in a while I like a soup like this. The hazelnut part sounds intriguing.

    • Thanks Chris. It was one of those ideas that I thought sounded perfect, then thought it was maybe disgusting, then made it and loved it! Vohn x

    • Thanks Annie! I could eat it every day! Vohn x

  9. This looks and sounds awesome! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

    • My pleasure Debbie. Do let me know what you think if you make it! Thanks, Vohn x

  10. Ah, lovely, I love some of these new nut milks… Wouldn’t have thought about using hazelnut in this way… But it will now! Thanks…

    • Thanks. I am loving my hazelnut milk and am obsessively using it and the leftover hazelnut meal in lots of different meals! Vohn x

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