Pumpkin Soup (made with butternut squash)
I made this soup in November and fell in love with it… it was soo good! It was healthy, cheap to make and hearty. The chestnuts make the soup thick and give it the starch. They also make it the type of soup you can only make when they are in season. The chestnuts inject great flavour and a creamy texture to the soup without the cream (and fat). I used my Le Cruset cast iron pot to make it and really enjoyed this new addition to my kitchen. I will have to take a picture of it next fall when I make it to add to this page!
- 2 large butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 2 dried chillies
- A few glugs olive oil
- 10 slices pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch (1 centimetre) pieces (I used bacon, it worked fine but you will notice you need not add salt to this soup)
- A bunch fresh sage
- 11 ounces (300 grams) chestnuts (I bought these at the store, skored them and roasted them for 20 min before shelling them and putting them in the soup)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- About 2 3/4 pints (1 1/2 litres) chicken stock
- 4 tablespoons sour cream
- Extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. (200 degrees C/Gas 6)
Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, reserving these for later. Using your pestle and mortar, bash up the coriander and chili, nice and fine, and sprinkle over the squash. (I didn’t have this tool so I just broke them up with my fingers.) Drizzle with a little oil and roast in a hot oven until nice and soft.
Heat a little oil in a large pan and fry the pancetta with half the sage leaves. Add the chestnuts and the onion and fry gently for about 15 minutes. By this time the squash will be ready, so spoon it out into the pan, leaving the skin behind. (Warning: squash is HOT when you take it out of the oven! I found this to be the most challenging part of the recipe.) Cover with the stock and bring to the boil. Remove half the mixture and blend until smooth, then pour back into the pan.
Take the rest of the sage leaves and the reserved squash seeds and fry them in a little oil until crisp. To serve, spoon a little sour cream on top of the soup, sprinkle with a little of the crisp sage and seeds, and finish with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
