Is it soup season already? It must be as I seem to be spending most evenings curled up on the sofa with a blanket watching The Great British Strictly X-Factor Come Dancing Bake-Off!*
So, without further ado, dig out those slipper socks, whip up this delicious soup recipe and hibernate. See you all in the Spring 😉

OK, ok, so not really going into hibernation; some of us have dishes to wash and a book to promote (any excuse for a plug). With that in mind and the horrendous news (which I cannot seem to escape) that there are only 64 days until Christmas I have added a bonus recipe to this soup dish – just double up on a few of the ingredients (see below) and you’ll have a stunning little salad treat for tomorrow, giving you even more relaxing telly time! Hooray! X

Roasted vegetable soup with figs and balsamic dressing

Makes 4 portions
Ingredients
1 Butternut squash
1 Beetroot
2 Onions
4 Garlic cloves
1 baking potato
3 carrots
Olive oil
Grated or Ground Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
200ml milk
300ml boiling water or chicken stock
4 Fresh Figs
Few sprigs of Fresh Thyme
1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of Black treacle

100g goats cheese or 2 tablespoons of toasted flaked almonds (optional)

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 200°c
2) Peel the beetroot, potato, butternut squash, onions and carrots and cut into chunks. Put the chopped veg into a large roasting dish and drizzle over 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt, black pepper and about half a teaspoon of grated or ground nutmeg.Throw in the garlic cloves (unpeeled) and roast for 30-35 minutes or until they are soft and the potatoes are golden and starting to caramelise at the edges.

3) Once the vegetables are in the oven cut a deep cross in each of the figs to almost cut each one in quarters (but not all the way through). Pop them on a smaller baking tray or oven proof dish and drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

4) Roast the figs towards the end of the vegetable cooking time as they only need 15 minutes.
5) To make the balsamic dressing simply whisk together 1 tablespoon of the oil from the vegetable roasting tray with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and the teaspoon of black treacle. Set a side until serving.
6) Carefully remove the skin from the now roasted garlic and discard. Put the peeled garlic and roasted vegetables in a blender with the milk and 300ml of boiling water (or you can use chicken stock if you prefer) blend until smooth. Add a dash more water if you want a thinner consistency.
7) Pour into shallow bowls, top each one with a few thyme leaves, a roasted fig and either a sprinkling of toasted almonds or pieces of soft goats cheese. Drizzle a little of the dressing over each one and serve.

Bonus recipe
Peeling and chopping vegetables can be a bit boring so why not put a few chunks of the roasted vegetables to one side for tomorrow before blending? Save a bit of the balsamic dressing too, an extra fresh fig and a lump of goats cheese.
Simply scatter some rocket or watercress on to your plate, add the cold roasted vegetables, chopped fresh fig and goat cheese then pour over the balsamic dressing make an elegant seasonal salad.

(*rock and roll!)