Soup up your squash and give it some added kick
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Version 0 of 1. My business partner, John Vincent, is fond of pointing out that 85% of the DNA in humans and cows is identical. That makes us more closely related to cows than we are to chickens (65% of our DNA is identical to theirs) but more distantly related than we are to mice (88%). From a genetic perspective, incidentally, we humans are almost completely homogenous – more than 99% of the DNA we carry is identical to everyone else on the planet. John’s point is that if you take any given thing – an idea, a business, a species – you might find that you only need to tweak it a tiny bit to create a completely different thing. Change 0.01% of my DNA and you get Scarlett Johansson (in John’s dreams). The same goes for recipes. Add potatoes to an omelette, for example, and it becomes a frittata. But perhaps the most adaptable dish of all is soup. The exact same ingredients can produce quite a different soup depending on whether or not you blend it, how you garnish it and what you serve it with. Here we provide a very basic (but warming, sweet and soft) squash soup and then show you how to tinker with its DNA. Think of yourself as a culinary Dr Frankenstein, but with rather happier results. Basic squash soup If you want to do everything from scratch, you can make the vegetable stock by finely chopping half an onion, one celery stick, a carrot, then adding some parsley and a bay leaf. Add the seeds and pith from the squash and cover with about 1.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil and continue boiling vigorously for 15-20 minutes. Strain. Prep time: 15 minutesCooking time: 1 hour Serves 4-61 butternut squash (or pumpkin) – about 1.5 kg2 tbsp olive oil1 onion, finely chopped1 leek, finely chopped1 red chilli, chopped3 garlic cloves, crushed1 litre vegetable (see above) or chicken stockSalt and black pepper 1 Preheat the oven 170C/335F/gas mark 3½. Peel and deseed the squash or pumpkin and cut into 2-3cm chunks. This is easy with a squash, but can be dangerous with a pumpkin – you have to use a lot of force and the knife can slip. With a large, very sharp knife, cut the pumpkin in half from stalk to base. Scoop out the seeds with a metal spoon. Cut each half into 4 equal crescent shapes, again from stalk to base. Lay the crescents on a board and work round the outside, cutting off the skin. Then cut the crescents into chunks. 2 Toss the chunks in 1 tbsp olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Tip them into a roasting tray and roast them for about 40 minutes until tender. The chunks will have browned a little. 3 While the squash is roasting, heat the rest of the oil in a large, heavy-based pan and cook the onion and leek for about 30 minutes over a low heat until soft. 4 Add the garlic and chilli and cook for another 2 minutes. 5 Stir in the roast squash and cook for a minute before pouring in half the stock. Bring up to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Blend together, adding the rest of the stock until you have the required consistency. Season well. What else you can do • Dev-Mex soupDeveloped by Jane at Riverford Farm in Devon, this soup’s heart lies in Mexico. 1 Add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes at the end of stage 4, along with 1 tsp smoked paprika, then simmer for 10 minutes before adding the squash.2 Add a 400g drained tin of kidney beans to the finished soup along with the kernels from 2 cooked cobs of corn (or frozen equivalent). Bring up to a simmer and add sweet chilli sauce and lime juice to taste.3 When serving the soup, top with crushed tortilla chips, grated gruyere, chopped coriander and avocado. Orange and cardamom soup1 Substitute half of the squash with sweet potato and roast them with the seeds from five crushed cardamom pods. (To do this crush the pods with the flat of a knife and pick out the seeds.)2 Finish with the juice of an orange. Squash soup with fennel and lentils1 In stage 4, add 1 tbsp of ground fennel seeds along with the garlic and chilli.2 In stage 5, add 250g cooked puy lentils along with the squash and stock and simmer together. Blend a cup or two of the mix and return to the rest of the soup. Stir to combine. Thai-style squash soup1 Add 2 tbsp Thai curry paste (green or red) at stage 4 with the garlic and chilli.2 Substitute half the vegetable or chicken stock with coconut milk and finish off the soup with a squeeze of lime juice and about 1 tsp fish sauce. Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander. Tuscan bean soup1 Add 2 tbsp of shredded sage leaves to the garlic and chilli in stage 4.2 Add a drained tin of borlotti or cannellini beans to the finished soup. Drizzle with olive oil. Recipes by Jane Baxter. Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the natural fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon). Get your kids cooking at cook5.co.uk |