Cream Of Butternut Soup
Cream of Butternut Soup. A vegetarian soup that is so simple, so delicious with Butternut the Star of this show. Botanically, a fruit, the firm flesh of the butternut squash is used culinarily as a vegetable that can be roasted, steamed, puréed for soups , or mashed to be used in casseroles, breads, muffins, and pies.
Like most of our simple soup recipes, the Cream of Butternut Soup is very easy to put together. And like a lot of our recipes, a slight change of ingredients, and this is vegan. And, like any dish you are preparing, sourcing the finest ingredients is paramount. Using a good quality vegetable stock is so important- it is the basis of your recipe. We never use stock cubes, although there must be some decent brands out there, I’ve never had the need to use them. We cook and eat with so many fresh ingredients, that we always have veggie scraps in the fridge. There is no need for a stock recipe here; literally, place your veg peelings and scaps into a saucepan – you may want to add an onion, garlic or a knob of ginger depending on what you want your final outcome to be, then pour in enough water to cover and let it simmer for at least 45 minutes [longer for a stonger stock]. Drain the liquid and voila! Veg Stock.
Don’t be tempted to boil the butternut for this recipe- boiling literally boils the flavour and the nutrients out of the pumpkin/squash. Roasting preserves the flavour, the shape/texture and the goodness. And believe me, Butternut is in a family of Superfoods Stars and racks up a whole host of goodness; from promoting glowing skin, regulating blood pressure and maintaining eye health, to ramping up your energy levels, bolstering your immunity, and contributing to keeping you flexible. Butternut Squash/Pumpkin is a brilliant workhorse that does all the nutritional heavy lifting.
Cream of Butternut Soup. So simple. So very good.
Enjoy!
Cream of Butternut Soup
Equipment
- Electronic digital scales
- Collander
- Medium/Large Saucepan
- Small, heavy bottomed fry pan
- Blender or Hand Blender
Ingredients
- 500 ml [17 ½ ounces] Good quality vegetable stock
- 300 grams [10 ½ ounces] Roast Pumpkin
- 1 Large Garlic clove, peeled 9 grams
- 1 Knob Ginger root, peeled 8-10 grams [2 cm / 1 inch] add more or less depending on your taste
- 1 small/medium white or yellow onion, peeled and quartered 75 grams
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon White pepper to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground nutmeg to taste
- 1 teaspoon fresh, minced tarragon extra for garnish
- 60 ml [¼ cup, scant] Single cream
- 40 grams [3 tablespoons] Toasted Pumpkin/Squash Seeds
Instructions
Roasting the butternut or pumpkin
- Cut the pumpkin or butternut in half and remove the seeds and the stringy bits. Wash the seeds to roast if you like. If you are using a pumpkin, cut into quarters; if using Buttrnut, cut in half horizontally. Brush the top and the cavity with olive oil and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.Pop into a preheated oven 205C [400F] and roast for an hour or more until the flesh is soft but not mushy.Remove to a cooling rack until cool enough to handle. When ready, use a sharp slim knife to cut off the peel, leaving just the roasted flesh.
For the soup
- Place the chopped onion, garlic and ginger root, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a medium saucepan, add stock to just cover the veg and simmer for 20 minutes on medium/medium low heat or until soft.
- Meanwhile, toast the seeds in a medium, dry heavy bottom frying pan over medium high heat, shaking the pan frequently until they are going golden brown and starting to make popping sounds- about 4-6 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Place the roast butternut or pumpkin either in the blender or a deep mixing bowl (if you are using the hand blender) and add the onion liquid and blend until smooth.At this point, the mixture should be quite thick; you want it to be slightly thicker than how you would normally serve soup. Add more of the stock if required, but still keeping it thick as you are finishing with single creamDecant back into a clean saucepan over medium heat and add the tarragon and cream and stir through- check and adjust the seasoning.
- Serve in bowls and top with the roasted seeds and a sprig of fresh tarragon
