Warming Butternut Squash Vellutata con Gamberetti

Butternut Squash is such a pain to peel and prepare for cooking.
But once it's cooked and ready, it's so delicious, that it makes all that effort worth while!

Here is the recipe to one of my absolute favourite inventions.
Vellutata is the Italian word for a 'Corduroy' type texture. It's very smooth, silky. It's not too liquid, but it's not too dense. It's perfectly in between.

The soup in itself is very straightforwards. It's an easy recipe, filled with goodness and taste. I wanted to add a twist to the vegetable flavour with the addition of the garlic prawns and spicy parsley oil to garnish.

It took me 30 minutes from preparation to cook time. I couldn't believe how easy it actually was. After peeling the butternut squash I noticed that the peel had fallen so graciously around the wooden chopping board. The colour of this vegetable is so strong and energetic that it put a smile on my face. With a quick re-arranging of the peels, I turned a waste product into something which made my family smile as they entered the kitchen and saw a sun smiling back at them, hinting at the main ingredient I was using for the dinner that evening.




Ingredients for the Butternut Squash Soup:
1 Butternut Squash
Olive Oil
E/V Olive Oil
Himalayan Rose Salt
1 Carrot
1 Shallot
2 Garlic Clove
600ml of Water
Prawns (flexible amount to taste)


Ingredients for the Parsley Oil:
1 Small Bunch of Parsley
1tsp of Chilli Flakes
E/V Olive Oil



How to Cook the Butternut Squash Soup:
Peel and chop (in medium chunks) the butternut squash and the carrot. Place both in a microwave steamer (adding a little bit of water) and steam until cooked (mine usually take roughly 12 mins). In a pot add the Olive oil and the finely chopped shallot and 1 garlic clove, and 5tsp of water. Let them sizzle until right before turning brown. Add the cooked butternut squash and carrot into the pot and add the remaining water. Cover with a lid and let everything simmer for a good 15 mins. 
In a pan add the prawns, the other garlic clove and salt, and let cook until ready. 




How to Prepare the Parsley Oil:
Finely chop the parsley and place in small bowl. Add enough E/V olive oil to cover the parsley and add the chilli flakes. Give a good stir.

Once the butternut squash has been cooked, remove from the hob and blend. Now it's ready to serve. Once the soup is in the plates, add the prawns on top and then garnish with the parsley oil. 
As you can see in the picture, I like to add a little extra E/V olive oil and decorate the plate with a heart. Being Italian you can never have too much family love or E/V olive oil :)

Enjoy! x


Interesting Fact: Butternut Squash is very low in calories. 100g provides just 45kcalIt is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid.

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