In Season: Butternut Squash and Pumpkin
Vegetable urban gardens are the new trend, where I live in London, England, allotments as they are called, have a waiting list of 100 years. Make no mistake I will put my name down and in one hundred years you will see me, growing my own vegetables. In the meantime, I have to rely on old friends to provide me with vegetables freshly picked and delicious gourmet recipes on Gourmandia help me to explore new ways of cooking in season.
It is Cucurbita season, the species offers several varieties among which butter squash, pumpkin which I can’t get enough of. They make really tasty soups, and what is better than a warm house where the smell of soup lingers on.
For that reason, here are not only one but 2 soup recipes, starting with this excellent video : pumpkin cappuccino with cardamom, besides being a wonderful, exciting new concept it also shows us step by step the basic of a smooth soup so that we can change slightly our method when cooking
Spiced butternut squash soup
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped (I did not include that)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large mild red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cm piece fresh root ginger, finely grated
1 large butternut squash, deseeded and cut into large chunks
2 large potatoes, cut into large chunks
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
to serve:
creme fraiche
snipped chives or thyme leaves
croutons
method:
Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the onion, leek, garlic, chilli, ginger and cook gently until the ingredients are soft but not too coloured.
Add the squash and the potatoes, pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat so that the soup simmers gently and cover the pan. Simmer for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are nice and soft.
Puree the soup in a blender (or use a hand-blender) or food processor until smooth. Return the soup to the pan, reheat it gently, and season to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with a little creme fraiche, snipped chives or thyme leaves and croutons.
