There is something rather lovely about unexpectedly finding something growing in your garden that you don't remember planting.
For me, it was in a forgotten corner of the field where the pigs had been.
When we had the pigs, they were very good at making sure very little food went to waste. Most of my vegetable peelings and kitchen scraps ended up in their field and, somewhere among them, there must have been a few rogue butternut squash seeds.
Because hiding beneath the undergrowth was the most spectacular assortment of butternut squash.
I hadn't planted them.
I hadn't watered them.
I hadn't tended to them carefully.
They had simply got on with growing.
Which, when you think about it, is rather wonderful.
I picked them and brought them inside to finish ripening on the table — mainly before the cows discovered them and decided they looked like breakfast.
I cut into one and made the most delicious butternut squash soup.
And, as usual with my cooking, I didn't have an exact recipe. It was more a case of looking in the fridge and cupboards and seeing what might work.
My Accidental Butternut Squash Soup
I used:
- 1 whole butternut squash, peeled and chopped into roughly one-inch cubes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 chilli from my daughter's garden
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 2 generous dessert spoons of Patak's curry paste — I had about half a jar of Rogan Josh sitting in the fridge
- 1 tin of coconut milk
- A very generous shake of desiccated coconut
- Roughly the same amount of ground almonds
- A generous bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
- A large cup of water
- Salt and pepper to taste
I started by putting the butternut squash, onion and chilli into a large pan with the curry paste and gently heating everything together until the vegetables began to soften.
I then added the stock cube, water, and coconut milk, and let everything simmer gently.
Once the squash was beautifully soft, I added the desiccated coconut, ground almonds and fresh coriander before blending everything together with a hand blender until it was thick, smooth and creamy.
I tasted it, added a little salt and pepper, and let it simmer gently for a while longer before taking it off the heat.
And that was it.
A pan of gorgeous, warming soup made from a butternut squash I never planted, a chilli from my daughter's garden and half a jar of curry paste that needed using from the fridge.
Before You Go…
Have you ever made something delicious from something completely unexpected?
Perhaps something appeared in your garden that you didn't plant, you were given an ingredient you had no idea what to do with, or you simply opened the fridge and somehow turned a few leftovers into something wonderful.
I would love to hear about it. welcome@tenacious-wellness.com
Sometimes the best recipes aren't the ones we carefully plan. They're the ones that begin with “I wonder what I could make with this?”
So, what was your unexpected ingredient — and what did you turn it into?
Until next time.
Paula x www.tenaciouswellness.co.uk