Butternut and apple soup

Butternut’s warm, yellowy-orange colour, unique flavour and satisfying texture make it a all-weather favourite.

BUYING AND STORING BUTTERNUT
Butternut can be purchased virtually all year round, either whole or peeled and cubed in sealed bags. The whole butternut should be stored, like potatoes, in a cool, dry place out of sunlight. Packaged butternut can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. When buying whole butternut, look for firm squash and skin that is unblemished. Avoid green colouring on the outer skin, as this indicates that it has been harvested before maturity and may lack flavour. Bigger squash has a more robust, developed flavour. Flesh ranges from a light to a deep orange, the darker orange being the sweetest.

HEALTH BENEFITS
Butternut is a well-balanced food source rich in complex carbohydrates, low in saturated fat and sodium and a good source of vitamin A and C, as well as beta-carotene, magnesium, calcium and potassium.

COOKING BUTTERNUT
Butternut can be baked, boiled, steamed or stuffed, and it especially lends itself to baking – which develops and enhances the sweet flavour. It’s great paired with smoky flavours like roasted peppers and tomatoes, and is surprisingly good stuffed and baked with light cheeses like feta or goat’s milk. Pur ed butternut adds sweetness and richness to soups and casseroles.

Chef’s tips:

Instead of traditional mashed potatoes, try mashing butternut with a little olive oil and parsley
Stuff halved butternuts with a mix of couscous, tomatoes and feta
Roast butternut cubes with a drizzle of olive oil and rosemary sprigs
Make an Asian-inspired soup with butternut, reduced-fat coconut milk, lemon grass and lime
Roast cubes of butternut and slices of red pepper with garlic and olive oil and purae to make a sauce for pasta, or serve it chunky, tossed into cous cous
Stuff chicken breasts with a purte of steamed butternut, onion and apple, poach and serve with green beans and a salad
Cook cubed, peeled butternut
in orange juice with a little stock, raisins and sultanas, and serve sprinkled with sunflower seeds
Suggested spices to be used with butternut are allspice, aniseed, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, curry powder, ginger, nutmeg, paprika, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme and turmeric

Butternut and apple soup
15 ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 leeks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
5 ml cumin seeds
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed
500 g cubed butternut
1.2 L chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Pepper relish
3 piquant peppers, chopped
15 ml chopped parsley
7 ml olive oil
Heat the oil in a pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, carrots and cumin seeds, and saut for 3-4 minutes. Add the apples, butternut and chicken stock, bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down, pur e in batches in a food processor until smooth, return to the pot and reheat gently. Ladle soup into bowls, and serve with bread and the piquant pepper relish.