It struck me at about 6:37 this morning when my blackberry wailed it’s morning melody at me for the second time that the past six months have whizzed past me without my even knowing. Sneaky little buggers! Six months ago (plus two weeks, but who’s counting?) there was nothing more I could think about except getting myself down the aisle without tripping and praying for good weather so that my wedding party could play croquet on the lawn. My wedding day felt like about five minutes-I can’t actually remember blinking (but that was quite possibly due to the corseted dress sucking the life out of me) the entire day. Then I had a whole month on honeymoon which, frankly felt more like an afternoon trip to the beach. Well, minus the last five days when Don fancied himself a juicy pork chop and impressed the street vendor so much with his Spanglish that for no extra charge got himself up a tropical stomach disease thrown in for free. This came complete with fever, violent vomiting from both ends and whilst I would love to spare you the intimate details I can’t help myself from dropping in the fact that this was all done in a toilet that you can’t flush loo roll down. That five days felt more like five years- and not in a I wish this honeymoon period would never end kind of way. Off to West Virginia I went and all of a sudden it was Thanksgiving and I didn’t drop one hint of a blog post about it and now Christmas is banging it’s cheery fist at my door and all I can think is- wait a minute, where the heck did you come from? If it weren’t for the fact that it feels like walking in a giant walk-in freezer outside I would sure as heck think it was still July.
There are a few things that I have had to come to terms with since saying I do and pumping my fist in jovial celebration- some have been better than others, like the free health insurance over the concept of sharing that I’ve since had to learn. But time passing like the speed of light was not something that I thought I’d said yes to. I thought that was saved only for the actual wedding day. Clearly, the biblical language of my marital vows misled me because all around me I’m surrounded by friends who I remembered announcing their pregnancy yesterday sending Christmas cards with a picture of their three-month old dressed like Father Christmas. How does this happen and how do I make it stop because I’m scared to death that in a few days time I’m going to wake up with three kids and think, what the heck? I thought it was still 2009. And all this crazy time flying had me thinking at 6:37 am, (apart from the last six months passing before my eyes) that life is short, waking up to alarm clocks should be illegal and I ought to make some soup. There’s something about soup that says to me- S-L-O-W down woman and enjoy the moment.
So, soup it was.
I’ve roasted a lot of butternut squash in my day, and I’ve also made a lot of butternut squash soup but I’ve never roasted it for soup because that seemed like too many steps. Now, I see what I’ve been missing out on, because I think for a split second time stopped when I tasted this soup. It picks up so much flavour from roasting, a pinch of curry powder adds just the right amount of heat and spice and if you’re not concerned about fitting into your skinny jeans anytime soon then you should go ahead and add drop of cream because it ties it all together so beautifully. It is also surprisingly quick to make since once you’ve roasted the squash all you have to do ist stir through the stock and reheat. It’s perfect for cold snowy days by the fire, even if in your head you’re still wearing shorts and strolling down the beach.
Roasted butternut & acorn squash soup
The cream here is totally optional. I rarely ever add cream to a soup but when I made it my inlaws were coming for dinner so I thought I needed to make it extra special. It certainly bumps it to another level but for every day lunches it’s still wonderful without the cream. This soup thickens as it cools so you may want to add more stock or water until you reach your desired soup consistency.
Serves 6-8
Diet facts: omit the cream and your golden
1 medium-sized acorn squash
1 medium-sized butternut squash
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized onion
1 tsp curry powder
1 litre/1 quart vegetable stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper
50ml/ 1/4 cup double (heavy) cream, optional
Prep work
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. • Peel and de-seed the acorn squash and cut into largish chunks. Cut the two end off the butternut squash. Desseed it and cut into large chunks.• Finely chop the onion.
How to make
1/ Toss together the two squashes with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Spread into a single layer on a large baking tray. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until very soft, with only a little bit of colour. If you find that it is getting dark after 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 180C/350F/Gas 4. The time it takes to cook will depend on the size of chunks you have so take that into consideration if you can’t be bothered to chop for long.
2/ Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until very soft and colouring at the edges.
3/ Once the squash is cooked, tip into the bowl of a food processor, along with the onions and blend until completely smooth-you can add some of the vegetable stock down the feeding tube to get it going. Transfer the puree back to the saucepan and gradually stir in the remaining stock and bring up to a simmer. If you think the soup is too thick add more vegetable stock or water. Just before serving, stir through the cream and check the seasoning. This soup will thicken once cooled so if serving the following day you may need to add even more liquid.
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