Spicy Butternut Soup

This is a recipe by Jamie Oliver that I have veganized. I skipped the rice because I wanted to puree the soup afterwards (my family won't eat chunky soup lol). Honestly I found it delicious either way. Almost like a curry pumpkin soup.

Spicy Butternut Soup

Ingredients

1¼ litres vegetable stock
6-7 lime leaves
3 fresh red chillies , deseeded (I used chilli paste because I didn't have fresh chillies)
2 cloves garlic , peeled
1 large thumb-sized piece fresh ginger , peeled
3 sticks lemongrass , trimmed and squashed with the back of a knife (I skipped this step because I didn't have any)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small bunch fresh coriander
olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon five-spice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 onion , peeled and finely sliced
1 large butternut or acorn squash , halved, deseeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
200 g basmati rice , washed
2 x 400 ml tinned light coconut milk (I used coconut cream because it's what I had)
3-4 limes, juiced
1 fresh red chilli , finely sliced, optional for serving


Method

Pour your stock into a saucepan on a medium-high heat to get nice and hot and then turn down to a low heat to keep warm.
To make your fragrant soup base, add the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and a pinch of salt to a food processor.
Chop the top few leaves off your bunch of coriander and pop to one side, then add the rest to the processor and blitz for 30 seconds or so until fairly fine.
With the processor still running, add a few good lugs of olive oil, the five-spice and ground cumin.
In a large sauce pan on a medium-high heat add this mixture, you can add a splash of stock to loosen it if you want, and fry and stir for a couple of minutes so it starts smelling fantastic.
Add your sliced onion, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the squash to the pan and stir well, then pour in the stock.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is lovely and soft.
At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir.
If it looks a bit dry, you can add a splash of water here.
Continue to simmer for about 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked, then add the coconut milk and bring back to the boil.
Simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through and thickened a little.
I like to squash up some of the squash at this point too.
Take the pan off the heat, give it a good stir, then taste and season carefully with salt and pepper.
To give it a bit of twang add the lime juice – the amount you need will depend on how juicy your limes are, so keep tasting it as you go.
Scatter with more sliced fresh chilli and your reserved coriander leaves before serving.

The pureed version;