Donal's Italian Kitchen airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on RTÉ One
Ingredients
Serves: 6
Time: 1 hour
- 1 kg of pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and chopped into rough chunks
- Handful fresh sage leaves
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 3 red onions, finely chopped
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 125g mascarpone cheese
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/450°F/Gas Mark 8.
- Tumble the pumpkin into a roasting tin with half of the sage leaves, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Toss and pop in the oven to roast for 45 minutes or until the edges are slightly charred and tender when pierced with a fork.
- In a large pot, heat another tablespoon of olive oil and fry the onions with some salt over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until soft.
- Once roasted, add the pumpkin to the pot, along with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes until completely tender.
- Using a hand or stand alone blender, whizz the soup until you have a thick, velvety smooth consistency. You may need to add more stock or boiling water to get the right consistency. Add some more seasoning if needed. Keep warm.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan over a low heat. Add the chilli flakes and fennel seeds and stir in the remaining sage leaves. Allow them to sizzle for a few minutes, and remove from the heat before they start catching colour. This creates a wonderfully flavoured oil and garnish.
- Ladle the soup out into serving bowls. Spoon a dollop of mascarpone into the centre of each one. Arrange some crisp sage leaves around and drizzle the chilli and fennel oil over the top. As the mascarpone melts, swirl it through to give a beautiful creaminess.
