Seasonal local food recipe No.347 – Jamie’s roasted apple and squash soup
Mark, one of our core group members, recommends this soup recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Great Britain. We don’t bother with the cream though,” Mark says, “as it’s rich enough!” Although the recipe uses the butternut variety, any decent squash would do.
Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
1 squash (roughly 1kg), peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 2.5 cm chunks
3 good eating apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 or 2 fresh red chillies, halved and de-seeded
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled and bashed
Olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper
Pinch of coriander seeds
Few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
3 heaped tablespoons pumpkin seeds
Pinch of cayenne pepper
800ml cups organic vegetable or chicken stock
150ml single cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Put the chunks of squash, apple, onion, chillies and garlic on to a baking sheet and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of coriander seeds and a little chopped rosemary. Toss everything together so all the veg is nicely coated then cook for around 45 minutes or until everything is cooked through, intensely golden and delicious.
Toss the pumpkin seeds with salt, pepper, olive oil and the cayenne. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes then put aside for later.
Put some of the roasted veg into a blender, making sure you squeeze the garlic flesh out of its skin first. Add a swig of stock and gently blitz until smooth and lovely. Put this into a large pan while you blitz the rest. Pour in most of the cream and bring to a simmer over a medium to low heat.
Have a taste, season to perfection. To serve, divide between bowls and add a swirl of cream and a sprinkling of roasted seeds.
