1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees farenheit

2. Skin and chop the onion in half. Do likewise with the parsnip. Leave the squash skin on but cut in half from top to bottom, then remove all seeds from the inside. Place the onion, parsnips and squash into the baking tray, cut side down.

3. Cover the vegetables in oil, then add some thyme, salt and pepper and toss together to season.

4. Place into the oven and roast for around an hour. Turn the parsnips after thirty minutes.

5. Remove tray from oven and remove the thyme. Make sure everything has cooked well - check the colour of the onion and parsnips, which should be turning brown, and push a knife into the squash to ensure tenderness. Leave to cool.

6. Now remove the skin off of the butternut squash. This should be quite easy after the cooking.

7. Cut the roasted vegetables (OK, I know squash is really a fruit) and add to a blender with the vegetable stock. Blend well until the mixture is smooth. Add cream, if you like or you can leave it as it is. You can also add salt and pepper if required, and I would recommend adding some (just a drop or two!) apple cider vinegar.

8. Garnish with toasted butternut squash seeds and thyme and serve with a thick cut of fresh bread.

Optional

If you like, you might want to roast the seeds of the squash. To do this wash the seeds with water and mix with vegetable oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Put them in a baking tray at 300F for twenty minutes or remove when they turn brown. Let them cool before putting them in a container for several days.