Smoked haddock and butternut soup

I’ve been going through the highly satisfying process of emptying my freezer! I love rummaging through it, seeing what my options are for dinner and coming up with a recipe using what I have. Today I found this amazing smoked haddock which came in a box of fish that I won from www.delishfish.co.uk.

I’ve also been lucky enough to receive a complete range of stock powders from Essential Cuisine. Here I used the chicken. Their stocks are perfect for making soup as they are quick and easy to prepare and taste delicious.

Butternut makes such amazing soup as it’s sweet and creates a real velvety texture when you puree it. This is a basic recipe that you can build on by adding other flavours like garam masala (which is why it’s in the picture!), curry powder, parika or chilli. I kept it simple as I knew the flavour of the fish would really shine through and I was right.

A real warming dinner for these cold, dank autumn nights.

Serves 2

2 undyed smoked haddock fillets

175ml white wine

2 bay leaves

Chicken stock to add to fish liquid

50g butter

1 small onion, chopped

400g butternut, roughly diced

Butter for frying

1 apple

2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley

Lay the haddock into a pan with the bay leaves between them. Pour over the wine and bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer, covered for about 5 mins.

Remove the fish and sieve the cooking liquor into a measuring jug. Make the stock up to 500ml with the chicken stock.

Melt the butter and fry the onion until it is soft but not coloured. Add the chopped butternut, fry it for 5 minutes. Add the stock, and season. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer over a low heat for about 20 mins.

Puree and return to the saucepan.

Break the fish gently into bite-sized pieces, taking care to remove any bones or skin and stir into the soup.

Peel, core and dice 1 apple. Fry in butter until it is browned. Stir in 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley. Scatter the apple over the soup and serve.

I highly recommend delish fish if you’re looking for a fish supplier. My box included cod, haddock, salmon, hot smoked salmon, smoked mackerel and smoked haddock and they were all stunning. Check out their website at www.delishfish.co.uk