Roasted Butternut Soup, Squash with figs…and other snippets

Spring is almost here. Almost! We have had a glorious week of sunshine and by tonight the rain is back, but I never begrudge the blessing of rain. We’re lucky to live in a place where water is not a challenge and I never take this for granted. My heart hurts when I hear of the escalating devastation of droughts around the world.

On a lighter note we were gifted the lovely company of two very dear friends recently. The beautiful spring daffodils and tussie-mussie they each gave us are here to share with you. Outside, the birds are busy; leaf buds are sprouting and blossoms are on the plum trees.

Two quick recipes to post and then I bid you adieu until next time!

The first recipe is one for when you have inventive ingredients to hand, or just to post for fun. Try your own version!

Delicata Squash and Cauliflower

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower head
2 Delicata squash
4 thick slices Feta cheese
Ground pepper
Ground salt
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
4 tblsp olive oil
Figs to pop into the squash rings

Wash all the veggies.
Split the small cauliflower into quarters
Place cauliflower in middle of roasting pan and wedge in the slices of feta cheese
Drizzle with oil and season
Top and tail your Delicata squash
Slice into rounds
Clean out seeds and innards
Stuff with whole fig
Drizzle over oil
Sprinkle over Chinese 5 spice
Roast in 350⁰F oven for 35 minutes or until cooked through
Serve with your meat du jour!

And…

Roasted Butternut Soup

2 medium to large butternut, peeled and diced
Garam masala, turmeric, cumin, all spice, chilli powder, nigella seeds, saffron, paprika spice mix
Grapeseed oil
2 large onions or 4 shallots
1 stick butter
4 sticks celery, chopped
1 peeled diced apple
1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
6 – 8 cups chicken stock (to your likeness of consistency)
Mexican spice mix (I know, but it worked!)
2 tsp parsley
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 thumb ginger, peeled, chopped and pressed through garlic press

Place your diced butternut on cookie sheets, roll in spices and coat with oil and roast until nicely done and browned about 30-40 minutes on 375⁰F
Melt the butter, stir fry the shallots/onions, celery, bell pepper until cooked through, add diced apple
Add Mexican spices
Set aside about a cup (or more if you like) of the roasted butternut
Add the remainder of the roasted butternut to your cooked veggies, scraping in all the delicious residue oils and spices
Stir together
Add stock and let simmer for about 30 minutes
Season with salt and pepper, add ginger and garlic
Blend soup until smooth and then toss in the roasted butternut you kept back, its just nice to have the little pieces to give the soup substance
Keep warm until serving
Serve with a blob of sour cream and sprinkle of saffron or turmeric