Butternut squash and bacon soup (also very easy - a beautiful burnt orange colour)

1kg butternut squash (whole and unpeeled but chopped and seeds removed or ready prepared from M&S!

225g smoked streaky bacon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 litre stock (chicken or veg, homemade or organic yeast free bouillon)
quarter of a pint of milk
handful chopped flat leaf parsley

This is a recipe from an old Quaglino's book by Martin Webb. I always used to peel the butternut squash but I recently saw Jamie Oliver use this squash in a soup recipe and he said there was no need to peel which certainly cuts down on the work and time this soup takes to make.

Cut the bacon into strips and fry until slightly crisp. Leave on one side.

Put the olive oil into a large saucepan with the squash, onion and garlic, sweat until soft. (about 20 mins)

Add the bacon, stock, and bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 mins. (If my oven is on and i am cooking in an ovenproof dish, I put the soup into the oven for the last 20 mins. It seems to give a richer flavour)

Add the milk and the chopped parsley.

In a liquidiser or processor, puree the soup. Add cream to taste if desired, Be careful if adding salt as the bacon can be enough.

This makes a soup of a fairly thick consistency but you can always add more milk or water if you prefer it slightly thinner. Pesto is a great accompaniment to this soup too, either drizzled into the soup at the end or spread on oatcakes, rice cakes or wholemeal pitta bread, all of which are low gi and keep your blood sugar levels more stable. (See here for homemade pesto)