Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Pancetta & Thyme

As the days get shorter and the weather gets cooler, there’s nothing quite like a bowl of nourishing soup to warm you up. I love butternut squash so use it regularly along with other vegetables in the soups that I make for my family but here I have decided to showcase its unique flavour without too many additions.

 

The roasting of the butternut squash intensifies its flavour and in my opinion is really worth doing… Plus it gives you the opportunity to crisp up some pancetta at the same time which can be used as a garnish on the finished soup.  This is a lovely seasonal soup which is packed full of autumnal flavours and is incredibly easy to make.

INGREDIENTS:

 

Roasted Butternut:

1 large butternut squash, cut into large chunks (no need to peel)

2 cloves of garlic crushed

A few sprigs of thyme

1tblsp olive oil

A large knob of butter

6 slices of pancetta or smoky bacon

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to season

 

To finish:

1tblsp olive oil

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and chopped

500ml vegetable or chicken stock

50ml double cream or crème fraiche

Some fresh thyme leaves

 

METHOD:

 

Roasted Butternut:

1. Preheat the oven to Fan Oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.
2. Place the butternut squash, garlic and thyme in a roasting tray. Drizzle over the olive oil and toss everything together. Pinch the butter into little pieces and dot over the butternut squash.
3. Drape the pancetta over the squash, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the pancetta is crispy and the squash has softened. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the pancetta to a plate and set aside.

 

To finish:

1. Scoop the softened butternut squash from its skin, once it has cooled a little.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan over a moderate heat and gently fry the onion until softened but not coloured.  Add the butternut squash to the saucepan with the onion and add the stock and bring up to the boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for ten minutes.
3. Purée the contents of the saucepan in an electric blender (do this is batches) and return to a clean saucepan. Add the cream and stir through. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
4. Serve the soup in bowls. Crumble the reserved pancetta and serve sprinkled on the soup along with some fresh thyme leaves if desired.

 

Serves 4-6.

 

Recipe: Garden Pea Soup with Sourdough Croutons

This is one of my favourite soups and the fact that it is so easy to make, means that it is even more appealing. You could use freshly podded peas but to be honest, frozen peas are just as good and so convenient. The sourdough croutons add a little bit of texture and along with some peas left whole give the soup substance. This is a wonderful summery soup but the fact that it uses frozen peas means that it can be made at any time of year.

 

I used vegetable stock but this soup is also lovely made with stock left over after boiling ham or bacon.  

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Sourdough Croutons:

250g stale sourdough bread cut into 2cm cubes

2 tblsp olive oil

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

Garden Pea Soup:

25g butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

500ml vegetable stock

500g frozen peas

Large bunch of fresh mint, leaves only roughly torn

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

To finish:

100g frozen peas

50ml double cream or crème fraîche

Pea shoots for garnish

 

METHOD:

 

Sourdough Croutons:

1. Heat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas mark 4. Put the cubes of bread in a roasting pan and toss in the olive oil. Season well. Place in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

 

Garden Pea Soup:

1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the onions and crushed garlic and fry gently for about 5 minutes until softened but not coloured.
2. Add the stock and increase the temperature until the stock is boiling. Add the peas and cook for 3-4 minutes until the peas are tender. Remove from the heat. Add the mint and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Purée the soup in batches by filling a blender/food processor one third full and puréeing until smooth. Pass through a sieve (for a super smooth soup) into a clean saucepan. Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary. 

 

To finish:

1. Add the remaining frozen peas and heat the soup gently over a moderate heat but do not allow to boil or it will lose its lovely green colour. Serve in bowls with a swirl of cream or crème fraîche, some croutons and a few pea shoots.

Serves 6.

Smoked Haddock Chowder

Anyone who reads my blog regularly or has browsed through the recipes here will know that I am a big fan of soups. There’s nothing more nourishing and comforting to eat on a cold and wintry day than a big bowl of steaming hot soup. Whilst there are many wonderful chilled soup recipes out there such as Vichyssoise and Borscht, I love soups that warm your very soul and make you feel good from the inside out!

 

I find it hard to understand why people spend so much money buying packet or tinned soups or even  fresh soups from the chilled section in the supermarket when it is so easy to make your own at home. In most cases, they can be made in little time using ingredients that are relatively inexpensive.

 

My gang love the Cream of Vegetable Soup that I make using potatoes, carrots, onions, and leeks, but they also like my version of Minestrone Soup into which I add some pasta. Soups like the latter are a meal in their own right and require nothing more than some nice crusty bread as an accompaniment.

 

Chowders are creamy, thickened soups usually containing chunks of potato and can include other vegetables. Fish or shellfish are often used in chowders and here I have included smoked haddock which gives the soup a lovely smokiness which marries well with the creaminess of the soup itself. Along with the sweetcorn, the chunks of potato and the samphire this is a substantial dish which is incredibly tasty.

 

This chowder is inspired by the wonderful chowder that I recently had in The Vintage Kitchen which I was so impressed with. I am not claiming that this version is as magnificent as the one that I ate there but it is still incredibly delicious and relatively simple to make. The Vintage Kitchen’s chowder included samphire which I thought was an inspired addition so I have used it here too. Samphire can be a little hard to source, so if you can’t get your hands on some just leave it out – the chowder will still taste amazing!
 

Ingredients:

To poach the fish:
300g smoked haddock (preferably undyed)

350ml vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

Chowder:

50g butter

1 large white onion, finely chopped

200g potato, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks

A large sprig of thyme

1tsp of Dijon mustard

250ml double cream

125g frozen sweetcorn

125g samphire, blanched and refreshed in cold water

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To finish:

Chives, finely chopped
 

Method:

To poach the fish:

1. Place the fish in a medium-sized but deepish frying pan, add the bay leaf and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring up to simmering point over a medium heat and allow to bubble away for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes.

2. Carefully remove the fish with a slotted spoon but reserve the poaching liquid. Flake the fish into large chunks, removing and discarding any bones that you come across. Set aside.

Chowder:

3. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a moderate heat and add the onions. Fry for 2 minute and then add the potatoes and thyme. Reduce the heat and place the lid on the saucepan. Allow the vegetables to sweat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until they have begun to soften.

4. Add the reserved poaching liquid and the Dijon mustard and allow to simmer uncovered, over a gentle heat for 10 minutes until the potatoes have softened but are not disintegrating.

5. Add the cream and stir through. Allow to simmer for a further 3 minutes and then add in the fish and frozen sweetcorn. Remove and discard the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme. Simmer for 3 minutes and then add the blanched samphire. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

6. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives.

Serves 6.
 

Roasted Tomato Soup

I sometimes wonder whether I actually gave birth to my three children!

 

I find it astonishing that I could have produced offspring who are such fussy eaters. I eat everything and love trying new things. I’m also quite a good home cook and regularly try out new dishes which I hope that they will like but, more often than not, such culinary creativity is met with disdain and a barrage of complaints along the lines of “why can’t you cook NORMAL food?” The list of vegetables they don’t like is lengthy which I find hard to comprehend as I can’t think of any that I detest. I seriously wonder whether there was some mix-up in the hospital and that they were switched at birth? These things do happen.

 

The one thing that my gang loves is homemade vegetable soup which is great as it is a way of getting them to increase their veg intake. I find that I can include a whole range of vegetables that they would normally never touch in the soups that I make for them.

 

The key thing when making a homemade soup is to use a good stock as the foundation of your stock. This can be a vegetable or chicken stock. In an ideal world homemade stock is preferable but to be honest there are a lot of good commercial versions readily available. I tend to roast a couple of chickens at the weekend and use the leftover carcasses to make a flavoursome stock but I have also been known to use proprietary brand ‘stock pots’.

 

Although I tend to make Cream of Vegetable Soup most often, I also like to make this Roasted Tomato Soup which goes down a treat with my gang. Roasting the tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness which makes this soup irresistible. Simple garnished with a swirl of olive oil or a few fresh basil leaves.

 

Ten or fifteen minutes before the tomatoes are due to come out of the oven  I like to mix up a quick batch of Cheese Scones which I pop in to bake after I remove the tomatoes. They really are the perfect accompaniment to the soup and are also incredibly easy to make.
 

Ingredients:

To roast the tomatoes:
1.5kg ripe tomatoes

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

3tblsp olive oil

A large pinch of sugar

For the soup:

3tblsp olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced

1 fresh red chilli, sliced

2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

400ml chicken stock (or vegetable)

100ml double cream

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
 

Method:

To roast the tomatoes:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Toss the tomatoes and garlic in the olive oil and tumble into a large roasting dish. Sprinkle over the sugar, season with seal salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast in the oven for one hour, giving them a shake half way through the cooking time.

To make the soup:

3. Place a large saucepan over a moderate heat and add the olive oil. Once it has heated up add the onions, chilli, celery and carrots and fry gently, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes until softened but not coloured.

4. Add the roasted tomatoes and garlic, followed by the stock and add 250ml water. Bring up to the boil and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a blender to purée the contents of the saucepan and then strain the soup into a clean saucepan. Place over a moderate heat and warm the soup up.

5. Add the cream and stir through. Once the soup Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve.

Serves 6.