It’s pretty straight forward, this one, and a great recipe to have in the armoury.

I’ve used it on plenty of occasions and it’s very versatile.  It was inspired from a recipe in Jun Tanaka’s book - Simple to Sensational where the squash soup is topped with scallops, a real dinner party treat that one. Here, it’s a bit more FatSteak Club than dinner party so I’ve spiced it up a little and added some bacon!

Step 1 - The Squash

• Heat the oven to 180C

• Peel and de-seed the squash

• Chop up the squash, leek and onion

• In a pot with a lid, melt a knob of butter with a good pinch of salt over a low heat

• Add the veg, give it a good stir and put the lid on. They will steam and slowly soften, bringing out their natural sweetness.
  Give them a stir after 5 minutes. The steam should stop any sticking

• Add 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika

• Whilst this is going on, move onto your bacon

Step 2 - The Bacon

• Get two baking trays and some greaseproof paper

• Lay the bacon out on a sheet covered in paper

• Cover with some more paper then top with the other baking sheet

• Put in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until its nice and crispy
  

Step 3 - Finish

• With the veg nice soft and sweet, transfer to a blender

• Add some chicken stock, a good pinch of good salt and blitz until smooth

• If it’s too gloopy, add some more stock until its as runny or thick as you like

• On a board, roughly chop the bacon

• When ready to serve, pour the soup in a bowl, give a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over the bacon

BaconNut Soup

• 1 butternut squash

• 1 red onion

• 1 small leek

• Butter

• Smoked paprika

• Smoked streaky bacon

• Chicken stock (why not make your own? Check here)

• Extra virgin olive oil