After standing on a frosty oval watching soccer, early on a weekend morning, there is something about coming home (and warming up) to a bowl of chipotle spiked butternut squash soup. It’s simple to make, hearty, and ridiculously inexpensive. Some people warm the soul with whisky, for me, it’s soup. It’s also probably a bit too early for me for a glass of whisky at lunchtime! Not a week goes by in the cooler months, that there isn’t a pot of some sort of soup made in our house.

Now, granted, you could make this soup ten different ways. Personally, I love roasting soups in my cast iron pots, in the oven for an hour or two. This one, I usually cook in my Le Creuset 24cm french oven. Yep, it’s definitely a lot slower than a boiled soup on the stove or pressure cooker, But by slow roasting everything in the oven, the pumpkin and onion caramelize, giving the soup a good bit of depth and flavour.

Three bowls of Butternut squash chipotle soup with Irish brown bread, and ground chipotle in a jar

What you need

Butternut Pumpkin – In my little corner of the world butternut pumpkins are readily available throughout the year. It’s rare that I don’t have one in the fridge. If you can’t get your hands on one, try another pumpkin variety. I’ve used a couple of different types of pumpkin with this recipe over the years. I always seem to come back to my love for butternuts though. If you’re lucky enough to find these miniature pumpkins (pictured) around, they make a great soup bowl. There’s a cracking description on how to make them here

Chipotle powder – for me is a pantry staple. It’s a really good, quick way to add a little depth and heat to things like roasted pumpkin, or say a chilli con carne. I love this stuff and can’t get enough.
Vegetables – Potato, brown onions
Pantry Staples – salt, pepper, butter

The details

Preheat oven to 140°c.
In a cast iron casserole on a low heat, melt the butter. Add the sliced onions and gently stir. Cook them until soft and translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic. Stir in, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the pumpkin, potato and water. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.
Once simmering, remove the soup from the stovetop and pop into the oven for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes the pumpkin and onions should be nice and caramelized, and the liquid partly reduced. Blitz the soup with a stick blender and add the ground chipotle. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Equipment

A cast iron French oven – I use my 24cm Le Creuset for this soup. You’ll also need a chopping board and a knife big enough to be able to cut through the pumpkin. I find a 20cm cook’s knife is the perfect size for me.

A good stick blender (Bamix, immersion blender) is essential for blending soups in the pot. Alternatively you could use a regular blender. It’s just a bit messier and more time consuming.

Try…

Serving Butternut squash chipotle soup with a dollop of sour cream. I love to make a loaf of Irish brown bread to go with soups, but a good chunk of sourdough to go alongside works just as well.

More Autumnal recipes…