butternut squash & sage soup
Recipe Tuesday | versatility & comfort
What a week it has been. I don’t know if it’s returning to Paris after Christmas, moving house, going back to work, or the current sub-zero temperatures, but one way or another the past week has left me in dire need of comfort and cosiness and warmth, both physical and emotional.
I’ve found the much-needed comfort this week in hot cups of tea, playing with a neighbour’s cat, hiking with friends outside Paris over the weekend, a house raclette night, chilly morning runs and the warm showers that follow, enjoying the Christmas decorations that linger until Epiphany, and the beautiful displays of galettes des rois that adorned every boulangerie in the lead up. Discovering a vegan galette was even better. Beyond the delicious almond-stuffed pastry, the pursuit of comfort has predictably influenced my diet more broadly this week: it has consisted primarily of various soups and leftover Christmas cake, both of which are homemade (the soups by me and the cake by my aunt) and both deeply comforting in their own way.
A homemade soup, when done well, is both tasty and nutritious, and has the feeling of a warm hug, which is possibly why I feel such a continual urge to cook up large quantities of it in the autumn and winter months. Butternut squash lends itself well to soup-making, being versatile and easy to pair with lots of different ingredients and flavours depending on what you have on hand, but preparing it can be a bit of a pain. The easiest thing to do with a squash, I’ve found over the years, is to cut it in half and roast it, then wait for it to cool and do with it what you will. If you try to peel and cut it while raw it takes quite a considerable effort, being a large and unweildy beast to handle and very tough to cut, and I am too lazy to bother with any of that. Better just to hack it in half and shove it in the oven, then deal with it when it’s cooked, soft, and malleable. The simple additions of salt, pepper, sage and vegetable stock give it all the flavouring it needs with very little effort.
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for roasting the squash with
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
1 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper
1 litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp vegan cream + extra for serving (optional)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (fan). Cut the butternut squash in half and lay both halves on a baking sheet, cut-side up. Cover lightly with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Score the squash in a few places with a sharp knife. Place in the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden and cooked through (test by sticking a fork into the flesh). Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely (or until cool enough for you to be able to handle).
Once sufficiently cooled, prepare the squash by first scooping out the seeds with a spoon and discarding. Then peel or cut away the skin. Chop up the remaining flesh into roughly 1 inch cubes. Set the cubes aside ready for use.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the finely chopped onion and sauté until fragrant and slightly translucent (10-15 minutes), then add the garlic, cooked squash, dried sage, and more salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently so nothing sticks or burns.
Pour over the vegetable stock, bring the pot to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer and leave for around 10 minutes, stirring intermittently.
Remove the pan from the heat and, using an immersion blender if you have one, blend the soup until smooth (or until you reach your desired consistency). If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer to a standing blender in batches and do it that way, then return to the pan.
Return the pan to a low heat and stir in the cream, if using. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if desired, then serve. Add a drizzle more of cream or olive oil to each bowl once served for a little stylistic flair, and a final crack of black pepper.
Currently…
Reading: Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis, about the FTX saga
Eating: in more soup news, I’ve also been living off a large batch of this hearty vegetable soup this week
Enjoying: playing with the above-mentioned cat, which spends a considerable amount of time in our kitchen, and always swans in with the air of a landlord coming to collect the rent