Butternut squash & sage soup

What the hell has happened to my skin? Over the past couple of weeks, my face has gone from practically blemish free to teenage pizza-face. I’m 34 years old, how is this happening? I just assumed adult acne was something made up by people who wanted to blame their bad skin on hormones and not on their diet of Mars bars and oven chips. But alas, I was wrong. My skin has turned on me and I am trying everything in my power to get it back on side. You name it, I’ve smeared it on my face – creams, scrubs, cleansers, serums, lotions, potions, even prayers – but nothing is working. If anything, I’ve angered it.
So, what’s the cause of my hormonal hell? Apparently, everything. From chemicals found in plastics to processed foods; from a bad night’s sleep to a stressful day at work; from pesticides found on our fruit and veg to the milk in our cup of tea. All of these factors like to fuck with our hormones – I was really hoping I could just buy a bottle of Clearasil and be done with it.
Instead, for the past few days, I’ve made a conscious effort to get eight hours sleep a night, do ten minutes of mindfulness a day and swap my cheesy dinners for this rather delightful dairy-free butternut squash and sage soup. The results? My skin is starting to look a little clearer and less itchy – woo-hoo! To celebrate, I got really drunk, ate a giant margarita pizza, went to bed at 3am and woke up feeling stressed… What?

Butternut squash & sage soup
Serves 4 / Hands on time 20 mins / Total time 40 mins / V Vn Gf Df ❄
You’ll need: A food processor or hand blender
2 tsp rapeseed oil
1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
14 sage leaves (extra for garnish)
600g butternut squash, peeled and cubed
400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
½ tsp salt
1 litre of vegetable stock, I used 1 Knorr stock pot
Black pepper
Pomora extra virgin olive oil to serve

Method
1. Roughly chop the onion and sweat in a tsp of rapeseed oil in a large pot, over a medium heat. Add half a tsp of salt, give it a stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes with the lid on. Once the onions start to soften, add the 14 sage leaves, give it another stir and return the lid.
2. Meanwhile, de-seed, peel and chop the butternut squash and peel and chop the sweet potato (no need to be to be too perfect about this, the soup will be blended later).
3. Add the butternut squash and sweet potato along with the stock and a good crack of black pepper. Bring to the boil before turning down the heat and simmering for 20 minutes with the lid on a jar.
4. Once the vegetables have softened, take off the heat and blend until smooth either with a hand blender or pour into a food processor.
5. If serving with fried sage leaves, add 1 tsp of rapeseed oil to small frying pan on a medium to high heat. Once hot, add the leaves and fry for a minute or so until slightly crispy and browned. Top your soup with the sage leaves and serve with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

V– Vegetarian    Vn– Vegan    Gf– Gluten free    Df– Dairy free
❄ Suitable for home freezing once cooled. Consume within 3 months.