A Taste Of Sunrise Butternut Squash And Chestnut Soup

This weekend Sunrise care homes have launched their annual Taste Of Sunrise event, an event that they host to showcase the delicious meals that they serve in their homes daily. If you visit a Sunrise care home from today until the 13th March 2016 for a tour you will be able to meet the chefs, sample the meals and also take home a copy of the new Taste of sunrise recipe book. We do not have a Sunrise close to us so I was sent a copy of the book in the post. 

Elderly care homes often get a bit of a bad reputation with people saying the food is bland and boring, Sunrise want to let people know that this is not the case at all. They endeavour to provide excellent care to their residents and provide delicious and nutritious meals to keep residents interested in food. 

Sunrise wanted to set me the challenge of taste testing one of their meals, to show that the meals are in fact delicious and nutritious and not what you would expect. I was sent a copy of the latest Sunrise recipe book and the ingredients to recreate my chosen dish from the book. The book is filled with hearty dishes such as beef stew, Salmon Wellington and sponge puddings and strudels. 

I am not the best of cooks so I decided to keep things simple and opted for the Butternut Squash and Chestnut Soup. This dish seemed perfect for a winter's lunch and seemed quick and easy to make, even for someone who is useless in the kitchen like myself. 

I have never actually made soup myself before, so I was unsure of how the soup would actually turn out. I was surprised at just how easy it was to make, it was full of flavour and really delicious, perfect served alongside chunks of bread with lashings of butter on. 

If you would like to make this soup at home yourself I have included the recipe below. 

Ingredients 

140g Peeled Chestnuts (we used tinned) 

140g Diced Butternut squash

430ml Vegetable stock

140ml Warm full fat (blue) milk

20ml Double cream

Pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon and thyme, plus salt and pepper to taste. 

Method

1.) Place the chestnuts, butternut squash and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

2.) Reduce the heat and simmer, cover and continue to simmer until the butternut squash is tender. 

3.) Remove from the heat and puree the soup in a blender.

4.) Slowly whisk the milk into the soup. 

5.) Return the soup to the heat to warm through and add the thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. 

6.) Serve the soup and enjoy. 

Have you tried any of the Sunrise recipes before? If you have let me know in the comments below.

Disclosure this is a collaborative post.