Roasted Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup with Hemp Pesto

Roasting the vegetables adds a wonderful sweet, caramelized flavour to this soup, and makes it incredibly simple to prepare. Packed full of betacarotene, garlic and ginger, this is a fabulous anti-inflammatory, immune-supporting dish. Adding the hemp pesto provides omega-3 essential fats, while butternut squash is an excellent source of antioxidants and vitamin A, which is particularly important for female reproductive health.

• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1cm/½in piece of root ginger, peeled
• 1 butternut squash, about 750g/1lb 10oz, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2.5cm/1in cubes
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 60ml/2fl oz/¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 700ml/24fl oz/scant 3 cups hot vegetable stock

HEMP PESTO

• 60g/2¼oz/⅔ cup shelled hemp seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 large handful of basil leaves
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp hemp seed oil
• ground black pepper

1. To make the hemp pesto, put the hemp seeds in a food processor and process until fine. Add the remaining ingredients and process again to form a thick paste. Store in the fridge until required.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Put the onion, garlic cloves, ginger, butternut squash and sweet potato in a roasting tin. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Roast for 40 minutes, or until tender.

3. Put the roasted vegetables and vegetable stock in a blender or food processor and process until smooth – you may have to do this in two batches. Transfer to a saucepan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Warm in the pan for a couple of minutes, then ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of hemp pesto.

Serves: 4 • Preparation time: 10 minutes • Cooking time: 45 minutes