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Winter Squash and Red Pepper Soup - Organic Box News 19th 0ctober, 2010

Mattby Matt, 2 yr, 8 m ago in Blog
Comments | Tags: soup, squash, quince, Box News

Savoy cabbages and leeks are very much in season, and this week’s are from Yorkshire. The Squash are from Herefordshire; there will be some local ones soon but they’ve only just been brought in from the field and need a while to ripen up. The flesh of these ‘Kabocha’ squash can be a little on the dry side, so if roasting them take care not to let them dry out too much. They’re better in soups and stews and have a lovely rich sweet flavour. Tucked in your box with the Spanish red peppers there’s a chilli pepper to help with the following warming, sweet and spicy soup ...

Winter Squash and Red Pepper Soup

  • 1 squash ( 500-800g) peeled and cut into roughly 1cm cubes,Kabocha Squash id=
  • 350g red peppers,
  • 1 red chilli chopped,
  • 1 can tomatoes,
  • 1 tbsp oil,
  • 1 large onion finely chopped,
  • 1 clove garlic finely chopped,
  • 1 litre vegetable stock, salt and pepper.

To give the peppers a smoky flavour either hold them directly in a flame or slice each into four pieces and grill skin side up.  The skin should be allowed to blacken.  Remove to a covered bowl for 5 minutes, and then the skin should flake and peel off fairly easily, but don’t worry about a few charred bits.  Cut into 1 cm pieces.

  1. In a large pan heat the oil and fry the onion gently until soft.
  2. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a minute, then add the squash, peppers, tomatoes and stock, and simmer until the squash begins to melt into the liquid.
  3. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. If you have any, stir in some chopped fresh mint and/or parsley before serving.

We were offered a sizeable batch of English quinces this week, a rare occurrence and we had to snap them up. There’s no need to peel them, just core and slice them, and cook in a little water until pink and soft. Then you can use them in any recipe for apple pies and crumbles (there are some Bramleys in the boxes this week), to which they’ll lend their unique scent ...

 

Quince and Date Chutney

  1. Dice the quinces and cook in 80ml cider vinegar and 80g sugar for 20 minutes. You may need to add a little water.
  2. Add 300g diced dessert apples, 50 g chopped dates, ½ tsp salt, a pinch of chilli powder, 1 tsp ground coriander, ½ tsp ground cardamom, juice of 1 lemon.
  3. Cook for a further 15 minutes, or until a suitable consistency, and pour into sterilised jars.

Superb with cheese.
 

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