Jamaican spiced corn soup

Ingredients

1. 1 tbsp olive oil
2. 1 large onion, finely chopped
3. 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4. 1 tsp cayenne pepper
5. 200g yellow split peas, rinsed well
6. 1 litre vegetable stock
7. 400ml can coconut milk
8. 1 Scotch bonnet chilli
9. 2 fresh thyme sprigs
10. 1 cob of fresh corn, cut into 2cm slices
11. 200g waxy potatoes, diced
12. 200g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1.5cm dice
13. 200g frozen sweetcorn
14. 2 red peppers, diced

Method

1. 1. Heat the oil in a casserole and soften the onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Increase the heat, add the cayenne and cook for 2 minutes. Add the split peas and the stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
2. 2. Add the coconut milk, chilli, thyme, sweetcorn slices, potato and squash. Season and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the frozen corn and red pepper for the last 3 minutes of cooking.
3. 3. Remove the chilli, thyme and sweetcorn slices. Cool the soup, then blend half in a blender until smooth. Return to the pan, along with the sweetcorn slices and thyme (discard the chilli), and mix with the unblended soup. At this stage, you can freeze the soup for up to 3 months.
4. 4. Defrost completely, check the seasoning, heat through and serve.