To celebrate the change of the seasons, the Senior Sous Chef at The Stables shares his favourite dish using the versatile, delicious and full of colour vegetable – butternut squash. Squashes are so seasonal in autumn; they taste amazing and are incredibly good value. You can swap the butternut squash for pumpkin by using the same recipe, but adding a teaspoon of mixed spice.

This is our family’s favourite soup at this time of year, and we also cook it in The Stables restaurant using our super-fresh home-grown squashes from the Walled Garden. Enjoy!
Laszlo Szabo, Senior Sous Chef at The Stables Restaurant

 

Ingredients

1kg butternut squash
2 shallots
35g  ginger
5 sage leafs
extra virgin olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock
100ml coconut milk and some for serving
1 lime
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175c.
2. Deseed and roughly chop the squash, peel and slice the shallots and the garlic, then peel and finely grate the ginger.
3. Place the squash, shallots, garlic and the sage in a large mixing bowl with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Mix it all together.
5. Line your baking tray with parchment paper and place the mixture on it.
6. Roast in the pre-heated oven for 20 mins until the squash starts to crisp up on the edges.
7. In a large cooking pan, add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, ginger and the baked squash mix. Bring it to the boil then let it simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Blitz it with a stick blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper and squeeze in the lime juice. Finish with a splash of coconut milk and some olive oil.

Tip: When you prep the squash, collect the seeds and toast them in a hot pan with a pinch of salt, without adding any oil. When the seeds are toasted you can use them on top of your soup to add texture.