Sweetcorn and Spaghetti Squash Soup [vegetarian]

After I used the spaghetti squash for the first time and saw that its strands looked like noodles, I thought it would be a great idea to use it in a soup.

When I thought which ingredients would go well with squash; sweetcorn, sage and mushrooms immediately came to my mind. This time I decided to skip the mushrooms but added a green pepper instead for a bit of crunchiness and sharpness that contrasts well with the sweetcorn.

I cooked the soup with dried sage and served it with a sage butter. I know the butter adds the fat and calories but it enhances the taste of the soup, too. If you prefer to omit the butter, you can serve it with some grated Parmesan cheese, it will taste just as good – I tried it out with some of the soup leftovers ;).

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

0.5 spaghetti squash, deseeded (approx. 700g),

2 tbsp olive oil,

1 tbsp butter,

1 onion, chopped,

2 garlic cloves, crushed,

2 medium potatoes (approx. 200g), cut into small cubes,

2 celery sticks, sliced,

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into cubes,

700ml vegetable stock,

0.5 tsp dried sage,

300ml milk,

1 can sweetcorn,

salt and pepper.

To serve:

2 tbsp butter,

a handful of sage leaves,

or grated Parmesan cheese.

METHOD: 

1. Heat the oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven) and when hot place the half of the squash skin side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 min until the skin is soft and can easily be pierced.
2. When the pumpkin is baked through, scrap its flesh with a fork to get noodle-like strands. The squash can be baked even a day earlier.
3. In a big pot warm up the olive oil and butter, add the cut onion, garlic, potatoes, celery and pepper, season, stir and when sizzling, lower the heat, cover the vegetables with a disc of parchment paper and the pan with a lid.
4. After 10 minutes increase the heat and pour in the stock and dried sage, when boiling, decrease the temperature and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are almost soft.
5. Add the milk, sweetcorn (with the liquid) and the squash strands, bring to boil, adjust the seasoning.
6. In a small frying pan melt the butter, add the sage leaves and fry them on a medium heat till dry.
7. Serve the soup with the sage butter and sage or grated Parmesan.

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Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Sauce [vegetarian]

I heard and read about spaghetti squash earlier and really wanted to check myself how it tasted, and if its flesh really looked like spaghetti. So when I finally managed to buy it, I was really excited. And because it just happened that in my garden there were lots of porcini mushrooms growing (I couldn’t believe it myself how many of them we had this year – please look at the photo below), I decided to make a mushroom sauce to serve it with.

After the squash was baked, I scrapped it with two forks and did indeed end up with strands. Ok, they were not really as long as spaghetti but did look like noodles. I served them just with the mushroom sauce and grated Parmesan but the whole dish tasted really delicious.

INGREDIENTS (for 3-4 portions*):

1 spaghetti squash (approx. 1kg),

500g mushrooms (champignons or wild mushrooms),

1 tbsp butter,

1 tbsp olive oil,

200ml vegetable stock,

2 tsp dry thyme,

200ml cream (30%),

salt and pepper

grated parmesan cheese to serve.

METHOD:

1. Heat and oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven).
2. Wash the pumpkin, cut in half and with a spoon remove its seeds.
3. Place the halves skin side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 min until the skin is soft and can easily be pierced.
4. Clean and slice the mushrooms.
5. On a medium heat warm up the oil and butter, add the mushrooms, raise the temperature and fry for 3 minutes.
6. Add the stock and on a medium heat cook everything for 5 minutes.
7. Add the thyme, cream and seasoning and cook for 1-2 minutes longer.
8. When the pumpkin is baked through, scrap its flesh with 2 forks to get noodle-like strands.
9. Transfer the pumpkin to the frying pan with the sauce, stir it and adjust the seasoning. You probably will have to add quite a lot of salt and pepper, as the pumpkin has not been seasoned at all.
10. Serve with grated Parmesan.

*This dish is quite filing. But if you are planning to make it for 4 very hungry people, you may want to serve a light soup at first. 

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