Out-of-season seasonal soup

I've had these photos hanging around for a while now so I though I'd share

them with the world- the best Autumn soup recipe I know! Give it a

couple of months and the ingredients will be in season again.

It's adapted from my all-time favourite recipe book, Christine McFadden's

Frugal Feasts. It was invaluable as a student but has stayed such a firm

friend that I recommend it to everyone, to the extent that I've given away

several copies and had to buy new ones. Look out for Pear and Chocolate

Pudding, which I'm bound to blog about sooner or later!


Squash and Chestnut Soup

12 oz (350 g) squash

or pumpkin

2 oz (50 g) butter

or margarine

1 onion, chopped

12 oz (350 g) chestnuts

2 strips orange peel

1 pint stock

Ginger (root and powder)
to taste

100ml orange juice

Salt and pepper







You can use any kind of squash, not just flown-from-South-Africa butternut

types- this is one one of the dozens of winter squash varieties grown

in the uk. Support your local farmers and greengrocers!


The recipe says to boil the squash but you'll get much more flavour if you

roast it- saves all that fiddly peeling too, as you can just slice the tender

flesh off the rind once cooked.


And on the subject of peeling- a magic tip for dealing with chestnuts! Just

pierce them and microwave for 1 minute, and the steam inside the shell

will lift the inner skin off, making them (almost) easy to peel!


So, a simple and delicious autumnal soup. Just soften the onions in the butter,

add the prepared chestnuts and squash (and celery, bleaugh), season with salt,

pepper and ginger and simmer with the stock and orange rind until tender.

Pass through a sieve and add the orange juice. Roll on Autumn!