Cheesy butternut squash soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 butternut squash about
- 750 g halved deseeded, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 large fresh sage sprigs
- 1 litre chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 65 g Parmesan rinds
- salt and pepper
To finish
- oil for deep frying
- small bunch of sage
- grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened and just beginning to turn golden. Add the squash, garlic and sage and fry for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Pour in the stock and add the Parmesan rinds and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the squash is tender.
- Scoop out and discard the sage and Parmesan rinds. Allow the soup to cool slightly, then purée in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to the saucepan and reheat. Add a little extra stock if needed then taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Fill a small saucepan halfway with oil and heat until a cube of day-old bread sizzles the minute it is added. Then tear the sage leaves from the stems and add to the oil, frying for a minute or two until crisp. Lift out with a slotted spoon and put on to kitchen paper.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with some of the crispy sage and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, serving the remaining leaves and extra Parmesan in small bowls for diners to add their own as desired.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
For Halloween pumpkin soup, fry the onion as above. Quarter a 1.5 kg (3 lb) pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into cubes and add to the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander and 1 teaspoon ground ginger instead of the garlic and sage, then pour in the stock. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, then purée and reheat the soup as above. Serve with moon- and star-shaped croûtons cut with biscuit cutters.
