Cragside Soup

After a wonderful day visiting the National Trust Property of Cragside in Northumberland, it was definitely an evening for a warming dinner. The amazing autumn colours of the trees, along with this last week inspired me to create the following. It is named in honour of one of the most gorgeous places I've been in a long time.

Cragside Soup


2 Onion Squashes
2 small red onions
2 large cloves of garlic
1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger
Drizzle olive oil
Small tub single cream
Milk
Nutmeg
Chille Powder
Ground Cumin
Salt and ground black pepper.

Prehet the oven to Gas mark 6/200C

Slice off the bottom point of each squash, just enough so that it will stand upright. Slice off the top, leaving a big enough section to be able to get a soon into. You may also need to cut out some of the flesh in order to get into the seed cavity. Keep the top, but discard the bottom.

Finely chop the onion, garlic, and grate the ginger. Share between the squashes and drizzle a tiny amount (about 1/2 a tsp) of olive oil in each. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp chille on top, and replace the lids of the squash.

Place in the oven in a roasting tray, for about an hour, or until you can stick a fork in the flesh of the squash easily, and the skin is easy to peel away.

It should be noted at this point that I had really wanted to be able to serve the soup in the skins of the squash, but unfortunately, the skins of onion squash apparently are too thin and unable to stand up when roasted. See picture for evidence.

Using a spoon, and your fingers (asbestos fingers helpful) remove the flesh from the skins and place in your blender or other blending implement. Add the cream and blend until smooth. Add milk to thin it to your desired consistency (I like soup quite thick, so mine was a bit thicker than double cream.)

Season with plenty of salt and pepper to balance the sweetness, add more chille if it is not hot enough for you, and some nutmeg to balance the creaminess with a bit of earthiness*. Serve sprinkled with grated nutmeg, another sprinkling of chille, and a nice bread roll.

Marvel at the bright yellowy orange colour, then dig in.

*I did not actually add nutmeg at this point simply because Chris doesn't like it. I just put loads on top of mine in the bowl.


Beer Match: We have been enjoying three lovely Rauchbiers. The smoky, meaty flavour goes wonderfully well with the soup. Read more here.