xo amys

Seasons harvest: Butternut Squash

Hey Darlings! I have the perfect Saturday recipe for you, this velvety wonder works wonderfully on a chilly autumn day.  I love butternut squash because of its nutty rich flavour. I’ve tried this soup a couple of times and have now perfected it to my liking. I feel without the apple or lemon, the soup is becomes too sweet and overwhelming. The apple, sage and lemon zest add a new freshness to the soup. I often eat this soup with a bruschetta, this time from figs and blue cheese. The recipe is very easy to make, the only thing that takes time is roasting the butternut squash. Ps. If someone needs the recipe to be translated into finnish, just let me know!

Ingredients

• Butternut squash ( 1 large)
• 2 Shallots
• 3 garlic Cloves
• 5 Leaves of Sage
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• Lemon Zest
• Cream
• Black Pepper/Salt
• butter
• Grated Gruyere Cheese (optional)

garnish: crispy bacon bits, herbs of choice, olive oil

bruschetta bread: fig, gorgonzola dolce, rustic bread

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 205 degrees Celsius. Begin roasting the butternut squash:  Halve the butternut squash twice and place the four pieces on a roasting tray. Rub some butter on the skin and add black pepper and salt on top. Let the squash roast for about 1 hour so the texture is nice and soft.

Meanwhile you can begin preparing the base of the soup. Slice your shallots, garlic and pealed apple and saute in a medium-sized sauce pan with a bit of butter. Add in the sage leaves, lemon zest and keep stiring until the ingredients begin to sweat, probably around 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. ( At this point you can begin to prepare the crispy bacon and grill the bruschetta bread)

Remove the squash from the oven and with a spoon begin scooping the flesh and adding it into the saucepan with the other ingredients. Be careful, the squash is very hot, you can let it cool for a while before you start working with it. Do not soup the seeds into the saucepan, nor the skin. (You can make use of the seeds later if you want to roast them.)

Re-heat the saucepan and mix all the ingredients together. Add a bit of water to loosen the mixture. Now add some cream and blend into a smooth paste. Reheat the soup, add the rest of the cream if you feel the consistency is too thick and add in a bit of Gruyere cheese to round the flavour.

Garnish: Serve with a small bruschetta: Cut thin slices of good rustic bread (small in size) and grill the sides to get those beautiful char lines. You can essentially add anything on, but this time I used figs and a slice of Gorgonzola Dolce.Serve a small portion of the soup as it is quite rich in flavour and garnish with crispy bacon bits, lots of herbs of choice/selection of small leaves, black pepper and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. You can also substitute the bacon for the roasted squash seeds.

Have a wonderful autumn day xx