Hearty Squash, Cabbage, and Bean Soup

I had a butternut squash and some squash laying around, so I decided to make a soup combining the two. I brainstormed a squash-cabbage-bean combo, and then ran into this wonderful recipe on the blog Rachel Eats. It is a wonderful, warming combination of complex and aromatic flavors. Serve it with a thick slice of hearty bread, and it’s one of those meals that just makes you go “mmmmmmmmmmmm.”

Ingredients

• 2 T butter
• 2 T of olive oil,
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 2 plump cloves of garlic, diced
• 2 carrots, scrubbed and diced roughly
• 1 large butternut squash, cut in rough chunks
• 3 large tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
• 1 litre of water or stock
• 1 parmesan rind
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 12-oz can black-eyed peas
• 3 handfuls of roughly sliced cabbage
• salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Instructions

1. Warm the butter and oil in a soup pan and add the onion, saute until it is soft and translucent.
2. Add the carrot garlic and squash, stir well to coat with butter/oil, then leave to soften, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and rosemary to the pan, stir well and allow to bubble gently for a couple of minutes before adding the water or stock and the parmesan rind.
4. Turn up the heat and bring the pan to a gentle boil, cover (putting the lid ajar so steam can escape), lower the heat and leave the pan at a gentle simmer for about 1 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Once the soup has become a nice, thick consistency, add the beans and the cabbage, stir well and simmer for about 10 more minutes on medium heat.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.