WHAT’S COOKING: Roast butternut soup with roasted garlic, spices and orange zest

Butternut is not short on flavour in its own right. Even if simply roasted with salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil, its caramelisation will turn it into a flavour bomb.

But, by the same token, butternut can take on plenty of other flavours, and that is what this soup is all about.

The butternut is roasted with a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, star anise, onion and garlic for up to an hour before you even start to make the soup, finishing it off with fresh orange juice and zest. And, this time in Barrydale, toasted pumpkin seeds.

The result was a soup with a whack of flavour.

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small butternuts, seeds removed but not peeled

3 or 4 Tbsp olive oil

1 white large onion, peeled and cut in half (to be roasted)

1 whole head of garlic, to be roasted

4 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

12 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion, chopped finely

More olive oil for frying the chopped onion

Juice and zest of 1 orange

Salt and black pepper

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

Golden white bread croutons, for garnish (optional)

Chopped coriander for garnish

Strips of zested orange for garnish

Method

Halve the butternuts and scoop out the seeds. Leave the skin on. Peel and halve one onion.

Oil an oven dish and place the onion and butternut halves in it, dousing them in oil on all sides.

Place 1 star anise in each butternut cavity and 3 cardamom seeds on each butternut half. If using one large butternut, also place star anise on the plain of the cut squash.

Add the cinnamon sticks on top of the butternut halves. Pop 2 garlic cloves in each butternut cavity and/or in the oil in the pan. Add 2 bay leaves to the pan.

Roast in a preheated 220℃ oven for an hour, or until the cut sides of the butternuts are caramelised and the flesh is soft when pierced. If the butternuts seem to be drying out, stop cooking.

Chop the second onion and sauté in a deep, heavy pot in olive oil. Add the star anise and cinnamon from the oven pan. Add the 2 bay leaves as well. Sauté for 10 minutes on a gentle heat, stirring.

Squeeze out the pulp from the roasted garlic, right into the soup. Give it a good stir.

Scoop out the butternut flesh and add it. Chop the roasted onion and add it.

Remove the star anise and cinnamon sticks from the pot.

Add stock, stir and bring to a simmer. Cook very gently for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then.

Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add orange zest and juice and simmer for three minutes.

Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Toast some pumpkin seeds in a dry pan briefly, and scatter them on top. Optionally, serve with a dollop of full-cream yoghurt, with the pumpkin seeds strewn over.

If using croutons, sauté small squares of white bread in heated butter until golden brown and crisp, then toss in chopped fresh coriander. Season with a little salt and pepper. Scatter some grated orange zest over. DM