Squash

Name: Pumpkin Soup with Kefir and Poppy Seeds
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 24 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 white onions, peeled, halved; 700g pumpkin or squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into cubes; 2 carrots, peeled, chopped; 1 stick celery, washed; 200g/1 cup red lentils; 1 x 400g tin tomatoes or tomato passata; 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock; Sea salt and black pepper; 200ml kefir (cultured milk drink) or use natural yoghurt; 1 tsp poppy seeds per bowl

November 2, 2017

Pumpkin (or Butternut) Soup with Kefir and Poppy Seeds

You can make this soup with fresh pumpkin, or butternut squash. Kefir is a gut-friendly dairy produce, but you can swirl fresh cream or sour cream through this soup, too. If you’re vegan, you can follow exactly the same recipe, but swap the kefir for some vegan/soy yoghurt instead and be sure to use a vegan-friendly, vegetable stock.

Aside from being packed full of fresh veggies, most of the other ingredients you’ll find in the store cupboard – red lentils, stock, a tin of tomatoes or passata and since I had a packet of poppy seeds open from making a Plum and Poppy Seed traybake, I sprinkled some over the finished soup, but the roasted seeds or any other seeds would be nice too.

Pumpkin Soup with Kefir and Poppy Seeds

Prep 10 mins

Cook 14 mins

Total 24 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 6 servings

Whip up this simple and healthy seasonal pumpkin soup (or use squash) for the perfect autumnal bowl of comfort for lunch or as a light supper. Add a drizzle of kefir for a dose of healthy probiotic and a sprinkle of poppy seeds for a bit of crunch.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 white onions, peeled, halved
700g pumpkin or squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into cubes
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 stick celery, washed
200g/1 cup red lentils
1 x 400g tin tomatoes or tomato passata
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
Sea salt and black pepper
200ml kefir (cultured milk drink) or use natural yoghurt
1 tsp poppy seeds per bowl

Instructions

Take a large 24cm pan or stock pot, add the olive oil and heat. Add the onions and fry until slightly softened and golden brown.
Add the pumpkin, carrots and celery, stir well and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add the red lentils, tomatoes/passata and stock to the pan. Ensure everything is covered with stock, if not, add a cupful more of water.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes until all the vegetables are soft (the carrots will take the longest to cook).
Season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Allow the soup to cool a little and then use a stick blender to blend the soup, or transfer into a jug blender (you may need to blend in two batches)
Serve the soup with a drizzle of kefir and sprinkle over some poppy seeds, or other seeds of your choice.

Sausages Baked with Squash [One Pan]

In partnership with Iceland #ad

One Pan Baked Sausages and Squash — Sausages Baked with Squash

If you regularly cook for your family, you’ll probably find, as I do, that some of the biggest challenges you face in a typical week revolve around coming up with a constant stream of nutritious meals, whilst fitting things in around your family’s schedule and dietary requirements. This is when a bit of meal planning comes into its own, as do shortcuts by way of handy items that can easily be pulled out of the freezer.

How can the freezer help?

I keep key items on hand, ready for when I’ve not had time to plan ahead, allowing me to quickly and easily rustle up a healthy family meal, such as frozen rice for stuffed vegetables or one-pot dishes, frozen chopped onions, frozen fruit (for quick smoothies), frozen seafood such as king prawns and salmon fillets for fishy pasta, and frozen pastry for quick my quick chicken pie.
Frozen food, especially frozen veggies, can often be just as good frozen as fresh
The freezer can act as a great back up, saving space in the fridge

So, this week our meal plan will feature some of Simon’s recipes, such as Sausages Baked with Squash and Rosemary (see the recipe below) and a retro Chocolate Trifle for pudding which will last a couple of days at least as it’s so big!

My ultimate food hacks

Scale up and batch cook so that one meal lasts a couple of nights
Keep things such as frozen chopped onions and packets of frozen vegetables to hand in the freezer
Go for ‘tray-bakes’ or one-pan dishes as much as possible – this is where you throw lots of items together and bake them on one tray in the oven. We love chicken thighs with chorizo and new potatoes, or salmon with roasted vegetables too.

Commissioned post by Iceland #PowerofFrozen #ad

October 30, 2012

Roasted Squash with Tahini and Za’atar from ‘Jerusalem’

There is an abundance of winter squash available at the moment; classic Butternut squash, sweeter Coquina squash, round squash and from the same family, pumpkins, delightful munchkins, marrows and globe courgettes. I like experimenting with different varieties and as soon as I bought these home I knew that I wanted to try a recipe from Yotam Ottoleghi and Sami Tamimi’s new book Jerusalem for roasted squash with tahini and za’atar. There is plenty more for me to explore inside the latest addition to my cookery book shelf and you can find lots of Ottoleghi recipes to try over at The Guardian, too.

First, the squash is roasted in the oven with olive oil, onions, salt and pepper

Next, you make a tahini sauce with tahini paste, lemon garlic and salt. Then you sprinkle over some of the Middle Eastern spice za’atar.

I’m missing toasted pine nuts and parsley!

I hope I’m in time to link this post up to the October One Ingredient Challenge co-hosted by Nazima at her new blog Franglais Kitchen and Laura at How to Cook Good Food. By coincidence, Nazima made this dish, too, adding grilled halloumi and polenta.

Nazima will also be rounding up October’s Simple and in Season event and in a couple of days, Simple and in Season will be back home at Fabulicious Food! for November – I hope you’ll join in!