Roasted sweetcorn soup

An extra punch of goodness comes courtesy of the oven-roasted veg – this bowl of sunshine is packed with lots of tasty umami flavours.

Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil, for roasting 600g squash, (such as butternut or onion squash, deseeded and cut into chunks)

2 onions, diced

500g frozen sweetcorn

1 small garlic bulb, sliced horizontally 2 large handfuls fresh coriander

½ tsp crushed coriander seeds

2 mild chillies (or 1 hotter), roughly chopped

Toasted sunflower seeds and/or sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 250C/Fan 230C/Gas 9. Put the onions in an oiled roasting pan together with the squash, sweetcorn and the halved garlic bulb. Roast in the middle of the oven for 30 mins, or until the vegetables have started to brown and the squash has softened.

2 Transfer the roasted veg to a large pan; if you like, set aside a handful of sweetcorn to garnish the finished soup. Cut off the coriander leaves and place the stalks in the pan, along with the coriander seeds, chilli and 1 ltr of water. Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.

3 Add salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil. Serve the soup topped with the coriander leaves, reserved sweetcorn, toasted sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. This soup is also delicious served with some good bread on the side.

Cook’s note: If you’re not a fan of sweetcorn, you could try substituting with cauliflower, sweet potato, beetroots, carrots or jerusalem artichokes.