Freestyle Friday #2

It was the second of my Freestyle Fridays today, and I rather enjoyed it. The main ingredient I wanted to use was some butternut squash, which was leftover from Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Pasta, which I made this week. I also wanted to use the sage leaves I bought for the same recipe as I had to buy a packet instead of a plant. For the soup I simply browned a clove of garlic in some mint and garlic flavoured olive oil, stirred in the butternut squash, added 300ml of vegetable stock and simmered for twenty minutes. While that was going on I baked the sage leaves by tossing them with the same oil and some salt and then putting them in the oven, also for twenty minutes. At the end I mashed the butternut squash a little, just for... well, no reason really!

Now to get it to the table without spilling it...

 

 

And, as a matter of interest, here is what I did with the butternut squash peel, seeds, and a few sage leaves. I baked them using the same method as above, just with ordinary olive oil, cumin and chilli powder. I've had the seeds like this before (they taste just like flavoured popcorn!), and was inspired to do the same with the peel by Nigel Slater.

 

 

Check back tomorrow for the birthday cake I mentioned. Especially if you like chocolate cake... I'll say no more until tomorrow!