A friend made this soup for me earlier in the week and it was fantastic, just the thing to see you through a cold snap (< isn’t that an awesome satellite picture?!).
Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup, taken from Nigella Express
350g diced butternut squash and sweet potato (Nige recommends buying it ready peeled and pre-chopped in a bag from the supermarket – shock – but you could of course prepare it yourself)
750ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
0.25 teaspoon ground cinnamon
0.25 teaspoon ground mace
good grinding of pepper
4 teaspoons buttermilk
Put the diced butternut and sweet potato in a saucepan with the hot stock and the spices. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add pepper to taste.
Purée the soup in a blender or using a handheld gadget and pour into two bowls, garnishing each one with swirls of buttermilk.
Easy as that.
And just to be clear, the kind of mace we’re talking about here is a bright orange spice obtained from the dried coating of the nutmeg seed, rather than a brand of tear gas. Important to know.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Nutmeg can do duty as mace if you’re desperate, but is less peppery. I can also recommend cumin as a spice for all kinds of pumpkins and squashes, you can make a very nice squash-and-lamb stew with cumin (call it tagine if you must!)