Franco Fubini's Honeynut Soup

Recipe by Franco Fubini

This recipe showcases honeynut, a delicious little squash that has a flavor like no other, topped with a drizzle of burnt butter and passion fruit sauce.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 honeynut squashes
• 1.8 oz onion, white or yellow
• 5.1 fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• 4 whole passion fruits
• 100g Butter

Recipe Instructions

1. Peel the honey nut squash, cut it up into chunks, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle some salt, then roast in an oven heated to 360 degrees F. Roast for 30-45 minutes. Keep checking it, you want it nicely coloured as it takes on a light brown thingy on the edges of the squash. There is no need to turn the squash over but feel free to do so if you prefer - it all depends how much caramelization you want to achieve.
2. Meanwhile cut the passion fruits in half, scoop out the inside and place the pulp into a fine mesh sieve; set the sieve over a bowl. With the back of a metal spoon, working in circles press the pulp and seeds against the mesh continuously as a blender would. This will press the pulp down into juice and leave the seeds out. The longer you do this for the more pulp you will convert to juice, it all depends on how persistent you want to be. Make sure when you’re done that you scrape the bottom of the sieve on the outside as there will be valuable juice there. You can easily do this with the edge of the spoon. Set the juice aside.
3. Take the squash and place in a blender, food processor, or into a saucepan large enough to hold the squash and the stock. If you go straight for a saucepan you will need a hand blender. In any scenario, use a little of the stock but not too much, to blitz the squash into a completely fine consistency. The less liquid the easier it will be to produce a perfectly lump free texture - alternatively you can pass the mixture through a fine sieve or Chinoise but it’s hardly necessary at home.
4. Once you have pureed all the squash - you might need to work in batches depending on the size of your blender or processor - place it in a saucepan and add the rest of the stock a little at a time. You want to judge the consistency of the soup yourself, so add a bit of stock, mix well with a spoon and taste. If a little thick for you, add a bit more. When you reach the consistency you want, add salt if needed and heat up.
5. When the soup is ready to be served, keep it on a low heat and separately melt the butter in a small saucepan at medium heat until it turns hazelnut in colour - the foam will have subsided by then. Be careful to not burn the butter, but again cook it to the point you prefer. Ensuring the heat is still relatively high, add the passion fruit juice and mix vigorously so you create a nice emulsion.
6. Serve the soup in a warm dish and finish off with a couple of spoons of the burnt butter and passion fruit sauce.