Liquid Autumn.

Warming, vaguely sweet, easy and delicious. My butternut squash cost me £1 and I have a saucepan full of soup that will freeze well, so I should have added economical to its list of attributes.

I love this pretty colour.

Peel, remove the seeds and chop up your butternut squash. Mine weighed 1 kg.

Peel and chop an onion, then put a drizzle of oil and about 1oz salted butter in a large saucepan. Heat to melt the butter, then add the onion and saute until translucent.

Add the butternut squash to the onion and continue to cook, stirring now and again for about 10 mins. It starts to blur at the edges and gets a ‘butternut squash being fried’ smell when it’s ready.

If your squash weighs less than mine did, reduce the stock you will add – you don’t want it watery. But if we’re in the same kind of weight range, add 1 litre of chicken stock, put on the lid and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 mins.

If you’re particular about the thickness of your soup, add less stock to begin with because you can always add more to water the consistency down after you’ve liquidised it.

It’s ready when tender and can be mashed against the side of the saucepan.

If you want to live on the edge, cautiously stick your hand (stick) blender in and blitz it. If you are more sensible, you might like to let it cool down.

Silky, velvety smooth

Maybe a grind of black pepper, maybe even a drizzle of cream, but how ever you look at it, it’s Autumn in a bowl.

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Butternut Squash Soup

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1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chunked
1 onion, chopped
drizzle oil
1 oz salted butter
1 litre chicken stock

Melt the oil and butter in a large saucepan.
Saute the onion until translucent.
Add the butternut squash and cook for a further 5-10 mins until it’s softening at the edges and you can smell squash, not just onion.
Cover with a lid, add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 mins or until the squash is tender and can be mashed.

Cool and liquidise – I use a hand (stick) blender.
Serve with a grind of black pepper and maybe a drizzle of cream.

Freezes well.

This recipe is another from Auntie Rene’s stash. It’s much loved by Rene and her friends and having made it at long last, you can add us to the fan club too. This is a seriously easy, seriously tasty recipe. I couldn’t quite imagine what the taste would be, but it’s vaguely sweet with the tomato puree, pleasantly herbed and deeply savoury, courtesy of the cheese. I reckon if you used plenty of oregano, you could market this to kids as ‘pizza chicken’. It really is excellent.

Start by preheating the oven to GM5/190C/375F

Melt 1-2oz butter in a frying pan and add 1 tbsp tomato puree

then add 1 large chopped onion and saute them for about 5 mins.

Add 1 tsp mixed herbs (add some extra oregano if you want a hint of pizza) and continue to saute for another 5 mins. If you wish, you could add 3 sliced tomatoes at this point too.

Put some chicken breasts in an ovenproof dish (for which for have a lid). We used 2, but the recipe would have covered 4 breasts easily. I scattered a little fresh tarragon from the garden over them.

Pour the tomato, herb, onion mix over the top of the chicken

then scatter 3oz grated cheddar over the whole thing

Cover and bake for  about 40 mins (more like an hour if there’s more meat).

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Take the lid off and return to the oven to brown it. I increased the oven temp to GM7 for about 5-10 mins, but that was only because my veg was nearly ready…

This is so good

So tasty…. succulent… delicious.

and easy too!

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Cheesey Chicken

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chicken breast, skinned
lemon juice
1 large onion, chopped
3 large tomatoes, sliced (optional)
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp mixed herbs
1-2oz butter
3 oz grated cheddar

Preheat oven to GM5
Melt the butter in a frying pan.
Add the onion and tomato puree. After 5 mins, add the herbs.
After another 5 mins, add the slices of tomato – if using.

Place the chicken breasts into an ovenproof dish – add some fresh herbs if you wish – and sprinkle with some lemon juice.
Pour the tomato-onion-herb mix over the meat.
Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Cover and bake for 45min-1hr or until the chicken is tender (and cooked through, obviously).
Remove the cover and cook a little longer to brown the top (you could always increase the oven temperature).

Serve with green veg and potatoes, if desired.