Roasted Butternut Velouté with Sage Brown Butter and Toasted Seeds
Squash roasted in halves until caramelised, simmered with apple, white wine and chicken stock, sieved silky and crowned with nutty sage brown butter and its own crunchy seeds.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 °C for . Cut the squash in half lengthwise with a heavy knife (with a large one, first cut off the neck so you have two stable pieces). Scoop the seeds into a bowl, pull off the stringy pulp, rinse the seeds in a sieve and pat them very dry with paper towels.
ovenRub the cut sides of the squash with part of the oil and season with part of the salt. Halve the shallots without peeling them. Place the squash cut side down on a 30×20 cm baking tray with the shallots and garlic cloves tucked underneath. Roast in the oven for , until the skin wrinkles, a knife slides through the thickest part with no resistance and the underside is deeply caramelised.
Add in this stepButternut squash, whole (unpeeled weight) 800 gOlive oil 1 tbspSalt 0.4 tspShallots 2Garlic cloves, unpeeled 3
ovenToss the dried seeds with the rest of the oil and a little of the salt on a small tray. Slide them into the oven for the last of the squash's roasting time, shaking once, until golden and crackling. Watch closely near the end; they burn quickly.
Add in this stepOlive oil ½ tbspSalt ⅛ tsp
ovenMelt part of the butter in a 20 cm pot over medium heat and cook the apple, cut into 1 cm dice, for , until soft. Scoop the squash flesh out of the skins into the pot, squeeze the garlic out of its papery skins and add the shallots, peeled and chopped. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for , scraping the bottom, until reduced by half and no longer smelling sharp.
Add in this stepButter 11 gTart apple, peeled and cored ½Dry white wine 50 ml
medium heatAdd the stock and nutmeg, bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low heat and simmer for so the flavours blend.
Add in this stepChicken stock 600 mlGround nutmeg 1 pinch
high heat→medium-low heatOff the heat, blend with a stick blender for until completely smooth, then press the soup through a fine sieve with the back of a ladle. This removes every fibre and gives a restaurant-style silky texture. With a countertop blender, cool for 5 minutes, fill only halfway and vent the lid under a folded towel.
Return the soup to the pot over low heat, stir in the cream, cider vinegar, the rest of the salt and the pepper, and heat for without boiling. The small splash of vinegar does not taste sour; it wakes up the sweetness of the squash. Adjust the thickness with a little water if needed.
Add in this stepHeavy cream 60 mlApple cider vinegar ½ tspSalt ½ tspBlack pepper 2 pinch
low heatJust before serving, melt the remaining butter in a small 16 cm frying pan over medium heat. Let it foam and cook for , swirling, until it smells of hazelnuts and the milky specks turn light brown, then add the sage leaves for 20 to 30 seconds until crisp (they spit, so stand back). Ladle the soup into warm bowls, spoon over the brown butter and sage and scatter with the toasted seeds.
Add in this stepButter 25 gFresh sage leaves 6
medium heat
Cook's tip
Pull the brown butter off the heat the moment the specks turn golden brown; seconds later it burns. Roasting in halves concentrates the flavour far more than boiling cubes. Leftover soup keeps 3 days in the fridge; make the brown butter fresh each time.
Cooking it at camp
Roast the squash at home and pack just the flesh in a container. At camp, sauté the apple and shallot in a pot, add the squash, wine and stock and simmer, then mash smooth with a masher or whisk hard. Toast the seeds and brown the butter with the sage in a small pan on the burner right before serving.