Spicy Squash Soup with a twist...

Wednesday nights are the equivalent of Sunday nights for Andrew. Last night he roasted a Guinea Fowl with a lemon, bay, and thyme marinade. I was happily ensconced on the sofa watching the TV so I'm rather sketchy on the details! He served it up with roasted sweet potatos and parsnips. Andrew is a real star when it comes to roast vegetables. His roast potatoes are, without a doubt, the best roast potatoes in the world. The real star of last night's meal, though, was the gravy. This he made in the roasting tin while the Guinea Fowl rested. By this point, the most amazing aroma had wafted through the house and I was up off the sofa and through into the kitchen, my nose twitching like a cartoon character. I proceeded to make myself a real nuisance until he let me stir the gravy. It was perfect: gamey and savoury from the bird and the thyme, sharp from the lemon and sweet from a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly.

After the meal, when Andrew had stripped the carcass, I had a thought. Why waste it? So, I threw the carcass and the left over marinade spices into a pot with an onion, a carrot and a kettle full of water. This boiled away merrily while we watched Batman Begins and, happily, two hours later I had a pan of Guinea Fowl stock. This forethought proved to be a winner today. I met Katie for a cup of tea across town this afternoon and by the time I had trudged back home it was 8pm and I was cold and hungry and there was only one thing to do....Soup! The fridge yielded a small Butternut Squash and a carrot so I threw together this, a variation on my favourite soup:

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup:

1 BUTTERNUT SQUASH

1 CARROT

1 ONION

2 CLOVES GARLIC

2 TEASPOONS CORIANDER

2 TEASPOONS CUMIN

1 TEASPOON DRIED CHILLI FLAKES

1 TEASPOON CINNAMON

2 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL

GUINEA FOWL STOCK (although I actually prefer CHICKEN or VEGETABLE...)

WATER (as an after-thought)

WHITE WINE (as an even further after-thought)

I began by quartering the squash and scooping out the seeds (keep these to toast in hot oil and paprika and add to your soup at the end). Don't bother taking the skin off the squash - more trouble than it is worth! I also cut up the carrot, quite small. I pulled out my pestle and mortar and used this to mix the spices and then bash up the garlic cloves. This will create a crumbly paste. I decanted this into a bowl and added a tablespoon of olive oil. My squash and carrot were then tossed in this paste, seasoned, and loaded onto a roasting tin.

I put this into the oven at 200 degrees for around 40 minutes until they began to caramalise. Meanwhile, I finely chopped the onion and let it slowly sweat in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. To this onion I added the Guinea Fowl stock and brought it to the boil. I was beginning to worry about the stock - would it be too over-powering? When my squash and carrot were done I cut them up smaller (still retaining the squash skins - although removing them now would be much easier so do so if you must) and threw them in the pot. This was left for around ten minutes to simmer. A quick blast with a hand-held-processor-thingy-ma-boab (I call it the 'ZZiZZer', as in: "Andrew, Andrew where is the ZzizZzer?") and the soup was done.

When I make this soup with chicken or vegetable stock I would always be happy to stop at this point - tasting for seasoning, of course. A quick taste of this, though, revealed that Guinea Fowl stock is seriously strong. I upped the water content, re-tasted...but it still wasn't quite there. I had a quick root in the fridge for inspiration which came in the form of white wine - leftover from the night before. A dash of this and I was happy - a deep, strong, spicy soup with a gamey after-taste that was as warm and filling as I had hoped. I ladled myself up a bowl, decorated with my toasted seeds and some coriander and ate a large bowl with some cheap supermarket-bought white bread and a glass of the self-same white wine. There is plenty left-over for Andrew when he gets home at midnight and even for lunch tomorrow. I wonder if it will get even stronger? Although it is unique, I think I prefer this recipe with chicken stock, guinea fowl stock is not for the faint hearted.