This is one of our favour soups. The recipe (with a couple of changes) is from Michel Roux’s The Essence of French Cooking, a go to recipe book for lots of the dishes we enjoy at home.
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
750g winter squash or pumpkin flesh
100 g onion, peeled
40g Leek (white part only) well washed (tip: use the remaining part of the leek to make leek & potato soup)
50g carrot, peeled (optional)
40g celery stalk, de stringed
75g butter
750ml vegetable stock or chicken stock (we prefer chicken stock)
1 sprig thyme
250ml double cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
Dice the Squash, onion, leeks, carrot and celery in 2cm cubes.
(Tip: top and tail the squash and the place it on a chopping board overhanging the work surface and then simply pull the peeler from top to bottom to make peeling easier. Slice the squash in half, quarter and eighths cutting with the seeds on the top. You can simply cut out the seeds and dice. So much easier and cleaner to do).
Heat the butter in a large pan and when the butter has melted, add the diced vegetables. Stir the vegetables and butter every minute or so until you have a slight colouring on the vegatables.
Add the stock and thyme to the vegetables, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cream and continue to heat for five minutes, stirring occasionally, then transfer the soup in batches to a food processor and blend for 2-3 minutes for each batch and then pass it through a sieve or fine chinois, season to taste.
Michel suggests roasting the seeds to use as a garnish and drizzle the plated soup with whipped cream and lemon but we like it as it is.
Ridware Hall 