Name: Butternut soup with crispy sage & apple croutons
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion chopped; 1 garlic clove chopped; 1 butternut squash about 1kg, peeled, deseeded and chopped; 3 tbsp madeira or dry Sherry; 500ml gluten-free vegetable stock plus a little extra if necessary; 1 tsp chopped sage plus 20 small leaves, cleaned and dried; sunflower oil for frying; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 large eating apple peeled, cored and diced; a few pinches of golden caster sugar

Butternut soup with crispy sage & apple croutons

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
chopped
1 garlic clove
chopped
1 butternut squash
about 1kg, peeled, deseeded and chopped
3 tbsp madeira
or dry Sherry
500ml gluten-free vegetable stock
plus a little extra if necessary
1 tsp chopped sage
plus 20 small leaves, cleaned and dried
sunflower oil
for frying

For the apple croutons

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large eating apple
peeled, cored and diced
a few pinches of golden caster sugar

Method

step 1
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry for 5 mins. Add the garlic and squash, and cook for 5 mins more. Pour in the Madeira and stock, stir in the chopped sage, then cover and simmer for 20 mins until the squash is tender.
step 2
Blitz with a hand blender or in a food processor until completely smooth. Allow to cool in the pan, then chill until ready to serve. Will keep for 2 days or freeze for 3 months. To make the crispy sage, heat some oil (a depth of about 2cm) in a small pan, then drop in the sage leaves until they are crisp – you will need to do this in batches. Drain on kitchen paper. Will keep for several hours.
step 3
Just before serving, reheat the soup in a pan. The texture should be quite thick and velvety, but thin it with a little stock if it is too thick.
step 4
For the apple croutons, heat the oil in a large pan, add the apple and fry until starting to soften. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir until lightly caramelised.
step 5
To serve, ladle the soup into small bowls and top with the apple, sage and a grinding of black pepper.