A weekend of quick and easy recipes
Even though it’s May and the weather really ought to be getting better, it is STILL soup season here. And I’m not talking about a lovely chilled vichysoisse or gazpacho. Oh no. On the upside, this Butternut Squash and Parmesan Soup is a definite contender for best soup ever, so silky and flavoursome.
Butternut squash and parmesan soup with optional bacon
I added the fried up bacon just because it needed using – it worked a treat, but is not compulsory. This was so very fabulous that I will share the recipe without further ado:
1 medium onion, chopped
large knob of butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
650ml stock (I used chicken this time, but vegetarian would be fine)
1 tbsp lemon juice
30-40g Parmesan, grated
Heat the butter and oil gently in a large saucepan, then add the onion and squash. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the stock and bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Blend until smooth, add the lemon juice, season to taste, add the parmesan.
If you want to add the bacon, dice a couple of rashers and fry them for a couple of minutes.
I totally LOVE this soup – try it!
In other news, the time to empty out the freezer is upon me again, so I decided to do something with a pork loin that had been there a while. Rather than just grill it and serve it to Mr B with some vegetables, I had a bit of time, so I brined it (albeit very briefly – ie about an hour in with salt and water – I’m afraid I can’t remember the quantities), then griddled it. I tried a bit – it was indeed very tender and juicy, which is what the brining process is intended to do. I finally got around to checking out the Dean & Deluca cook book I spotted in a charity shop in Colchester while staying with “Uncle Patrick” and family a couple of months ago.
Pork loin with a little compôte of apple and onion
It’s a massive book and happens to include amongst many other tempting dishes a list of suggested “add-ons for pork chops”, one of which involved apples and onions, both of which were here in plentiful supply. Slice them up, cook them slowly in a reasonably generous amount of butter, add a bit of finely chopped sage at the end – and there you have it, a little compôte of apples and onions. I tested a bit and I now have another quick mid-week supper on the list – the apple/onion combo was very tasty and perfect with the pork and I predict it would be great with a sausage-based meal too.
And another onion success: we had burgers on Sunday night (best-ever according to Missy B, which was nice) and there was a stray half a red onion. Sliced raw red onion is ok with a burger, but not very exciting, so I made a little (almost instant) chutney – I sliced the onion thinly, fried it gently in olive oil, added a teaspoon of sugar, then added some red wine plus a generous teaspoon of a secret ingredient. This was in fact an actual secret ingredient – I bought a little jar of Fortnum & Mason’s Balsamic Jelly for a colleague in the secret santa at Christmas but at the end of the meal it was still there on the festive table, so I did what was only right an proper and stuck it in my handbag.
Festive Balsamic Jelly
Who would leave such a treat behind?? But their loss was definitely my gain.
Love your style. I suppose it might have been rude to say “oi! Have you spurned your Secret Santa gift?” – you would have given the game away. I can just imagine you doing a shifty look around to see if anyone was around then filching it. Genius!