Marco Pierre White's pumpkin and butter bean broth recipe

Details

• Cuisine: English
• Recipe Type: Soup
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 50 mins
• Serves: 8

Step-by-step

1. First, make the stock. Dissolve the stock cubes/pots in 1.2 litres of boiling water, stirring until thoroughly dissolved. Place the stock in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
2. In a separate large heavy-based saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add in the onion and garlic and fry for 1–2 minutes over a high heat, stirring constantly so that they soften but don’t brown at all.
3. Add in the carrot and celery and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in the tomato puree – this will give the soup a great colour – and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly to mix in well.
4. Bring the simmering stock to the boil and add to the onion mixture. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add in the drained butter beans and simmer for 10 minutes, then add in the pumpkin or butternut squash, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add in courgettes and thyme, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 more minutes. Adding fresh thyme gives a lovely flavour to the broth.
7. Check that the vegetables are cooked through; you want them tender, but retaining texture.
8. I’m a great fan of olive oil and I like to drizzle my soup with a little extra olive oil just before serving, but it’s your choice.
9. Take the soup to the table to serve. Some slices of crusty bread would go well with it.