Onion Squash Soup (served in an Onion Squash)

Here’s something you could make for Halloween.  Please NO carving of scary faces into the squash before serving up – it makes the soup fall out.

sssooop

 

For each serving you’ll need:

  • One onion squash – about 550-600g whole weight
  • 1 and a half teaspoons of olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 15g creamed coconut  and half a teaspoon nutritional yeast  flakes OR  30g goat’s cheese
  • Vegetable stock
  • Parsley or chives to garnish
  1. Cut small amount from base of squash so that it stands flat
  2. Make another cut right through the squash about 2/3 of the way up and remove that section
  3. Scoop out seeds and discard
  4. Armed with a sharp knife and a metal spoon, excavate chunks of squash as you would if you were hollowing out a pumpkin – however aim for chunks all being approximately same size
  5. Put chunks of squash in a bowl and mix well with olive oil
  6. Transfer to baking tray and bake at 200°C, checking every 10 minutes, till chunks are soft (cooking time will vary depending on how big chunks are)
  7. When soft, transfer to blender and blend together with all other ingredients except for garnish (you can vary amount of stock to get a thinner or thicker soup)
  8. If soup not warm enough, transfer to saucepan and warm through
  9. Pour into hollowed-out squash to serve and sprinkle with garnish

Please note: onion squash also tastes amazing just on its own

WWPP: 5

Dill pancakes with broccoli, mushroom and kidney bean filling

IMG_0126 Pancakes

At The Tea House, we are currently of the opinion that the above dish could do with being renamed; not due to any current inaccuracy but because it takes a long time to say and we’re lazy.  Besides, when you’re hungry and asking the waiting staff what today’s specials are, you don’t want to listen to your own stomach grumble through endless descriptions of “a subtle yet racy tarte aux oignons with a hint of chillies, slathered in a gentle cornichon sauce”; you want to hear “Pie, Lasagne or jacket potato?” to which you say “Jacket potato with what?” … “Beans or cheese” …. “I’ll have the beans”.  Job done.

Anyone who makes this recipe has my permission to call it ‘Pancakes with savoury filling’ (I chose not to just in case I make something similar, but not identical, on another occasion).  You also have my permission to pretend to your friends that you invented it – I shall take it as a compliment.

The dill works really well in the pancake batter and the kidney beans give a semi-sweet kick against the backdrop of meaty mushrooms and sharp Tenderstem broccoli.  Alternatively, “mmmmmmmm”.

Pancake batter

Vegan

  • 3 heaped tablespoons plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon soya flour
  • 2/3 pint of soya milk
  • salt
  • Finely chopped fresh dill

Veggie

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 pint of milk
  • 4oz / 115g plain flour
  • salt
  • Finely chopped fresh dill

You’ll also need some butter or oil for frying the pancakes

Filling

  • Tenderstem broccoli (about half a pack)
  • Mushrooms (one large or a handful of regular mushrooms per person)
  • Garlic (lots, obviously)
  • Red kidney beans (about one tablespoon per person)
  • Oil for frying
  • Handful of plain flour
  • Vegetable stock
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Agave nectar (optional)
  • Coconut milk or cream (dairy or plant-based equivalent)
  1. Start by making the pancake batter.  Blend all ingredients in a blender and leave it to one side while you get on with making the filling.
  2. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes and put to one side.
  3. Fry the mushrooms then add garlic when they get to the point where they’re leaking mushroom juice.  Fry a bit longer to start the garlic cooking.
  4. Throw on some flour and stir it in, keeping the  pan on the heat.
  5. When you can no longer visually identify the flour, add enough stock to almost cover the mushrooms and let it simmer.
  6. Add some balsamic vinegar to taste
  7. Add kidney beans and cooked broccoli
  8. Add agave nectar to help bring out the sweetness of the kidney beans – if you don’ like your savouries too sweet then you can happily skip this step
  9. Add coconut milk or cream, how much depends on desired consistency
  10. Leave pan on a very low heat while you start cooking the pancakes
  11. Heat oil or butter in a frying pan – hot butter will sizzle and hot oil will smoke a bit.
  12. Pour some of your pancake mixture into the centre of the frying pan and move the pan to swirl the mixture around.  Your pancake will begin to solidify quite quickly so start shaking the pan when that happens in order to loosen it so you can toss it over and cook the other side.  If it’s particularly recalcitrant, try levering up the edges of the pancake with a suitable cooking implement.
  13. Now you’re ready to toss IF you are one of these supremely confident people who doesn’t drop four out of five pancakes they try this with.  An alternative is to get a wide spatula and work it under the pancake so you can flip it over without risk to your ceiling, floor or patience. You may want to flip a few times to get it cooked to your requirements.
  14. Place pancake on a plate and spoon some of the filling into the middle then fold the pancake over it.
  15. Serve and enjoy!

Pesto

It’s been a long time since I ate any shop-bought pesto; there’s a jar of Florentino basil pesto in the cupboard but, I dunno, I just don’t trust it.  For pesto you need fresh basil leaves, good olive oil, flaked almonds* or whole almonds with their skins if you’re feeling worthy, plenty of garlic and a hand-held blender.  To make your pesto a bit cheesy you can add cheese of your choice; while hard cheeses like pecorino are traditional, soft goat cheese makes for a creamy pesto.  If, like me, you prefer no cheese at all, you can add some nutritional yeast to achieve a cheesier taste.

*you can use pine nuts if you prefer, but once I switched to almonds there was no turning back

How to make?

Rinse the basil leaves, chop the garlic, then everything in a blender (or use a hand-held blender)

Goes well with pasta or just about any other grain – alternatively use as topping for bruschetta