The influential women in my life have always been fans of
butternut squash. I don’t know what it is. Walking through the market I feel as
though four out of five people checking out the butternut squash are women,
keenly regarding their specimen as they think of the infinite potential of the dinner that's somewhere on the horizon. I have
never been able to figure out why this might be the case; admittedly it is
perhaps a figment of my imagination. Perhaps I just ignore the men in the
market. Nevertheless, I find it to be among the most comforting of ingredients
to work with and that’s saying something since I don’t have any particular
nostalgic memories of butternut squash as it was no part of my childhood in the
Caribbean. I chose to create a velouté as it allows me to communicate many emotions
in a single swipe. The vibrant color, silken texture, and reassuring comforting
qualities of a warm butternut squash velouté are enough to stand on their own.
However, the versatility of this wonderful ingredient allows for elevation
of the eating experience. Candied walnuts add important texture contrast to the
overall dish and similarly the parmesan crisp cuts right through the sweet
components of the dish. The sage oil and smoked prosciutto work brilliantly
well and elevates the soup to divine realms. Don’t take my word for it, have a
go.
INGREDIENTS (serves 4):
BUTTERNUT SQUASH VELOUTÉ
·
1 medium sized butternut squash
·
3 shallots
·
80 g butter
·
1 litre vegetable stock
·
6 tbsp double cream
·
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
CANDIED WALNUTS
·
1 ½ cup raw walnuts
·
1 ½ cup sugar
·
½ tsp coarse salt
PARMESAN CRISP
·
6 tbsp grated parmesan
·
½ tsp smoked paprika
TO SERVE
·
Sage oil and sage leaves
·
Smoked prosciutto
-
Peel, deseed, and chop the butternut squash into
small cubes.
-
Peel and chop the shallots.
-
Add the butter to a large pan at medium heat
-
Sauté the shallots until just transparent then the
butternut squash
-
Season to taste with sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper
-
When softened, add the vegetable stock to the
pan and gently simmer for 10-15 minutes
-
In batches, purée the butternut squash in a
blender and pass through a fine sieve for a velvety finish
-
Add the cream to the soup and stir through
-
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary
-
Keep over a warm heat
-
To prepare the candied walnuts simply place sugar
into a non-stick pan and melt the sugar over a medium heat
-
As soon as the sugar is fully melted add the raw
walnuts and stir until sugar coating is evenly distributed
-
Working swiftly remove the walnuts from the pan
and spread over a baking sheet to cool
-
For the parmesan crisps, mix the parmesan with
the paprika and place on a lightly greased baking sheet in four circles
-
Flash under the broiler until just brown on the
edges being sure to remove the parmesan from the oven quickly
-
Set aside crisps to cool
-
For the sage oil place a few sage leaves in
olive oil over a low heat in shallow non-stick frying pan being sure not to fry
the leaves
-
After 2 minutes set the oil aside to infuse
-
To assemble, place the smoked prosciutto with a
few candied walnuts at the base of a wide soup bowl to one side
-
Ladle the warm soup into the bowl being sure now
to cover the prosciutto
-
Pour a tablespoon of the sage oil over the soup
and garnish with a few sage leaves
-
Add the parmesan crisp and a few extra candied
walnuts if desired
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