Hands Up if You’re Grateful for Pumpkin Soup!

One of our family’s all time favourite comfort foods is homemade soup!
And My Pumpkin soup is Aliyah’s absolute favourite.

I’ll post the recipe here but remember I tend to “feel” the amounts- which is a person of precision’s nightmare.

Ange’s Pumpkin Soup

In a 180C oven, place about:

• 1Kg of Pumpkin rubbed in olive oil 

After about a half hour of enjoying your favourite beverage, place a soup pot on the stove and in oil sauté 

• 1 onion

Add:

• 3 medium potatoes peeled and cubed (small)
• 3 small carrots peeled and cubed (small)
• 3 garlic cloves (smashed and chopped roughly)
• 2 -3 knobs of butter

Lower heat slightly and let it cook down for about 10-15 minutes (which is about equivalent to reading about 8 friends Facebook posts and replying to 4 of them or folding a pile of washing)

Prepare:

• Take pumpkin out of oven and remove skin and seeds.

(See super awesome video filmed by my 8 year old)

Add:

• Pumpkin should be soft enough to break up into pieces- put it in the soup pot with other veggies.
• Mix it around and let it cook a bit to create a bit of caramelisation. (That’s the Masterchef bit! 🤣)

Add:

• 4-6 cups of water
• 4-6 tsp of chicken stock (this to me is all about taste so I taste the broth to see if enough stock has been added)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar (optional)

Simmer:

Let simmer on medium heat for another 10-15 minutes 

Enough time to fill the sink and wash the dishes that have been dirtied during prep. Let’s be honest - I mean seriously who wants to relax and enjoy a bowl of soup and then have to get up and do dishes right away afterwards.

Blend:

Use a stick blender and blend until smooth. It should look smooth and shiny.

To serve:

Feel free to add toppings of interest and flavour such as

• Cream (or I use Greek yogurt)
• Seeds (Pepitas, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts) 
• Spices (such as chilli, cumin, oregano, salt pepper, brown sugar, paprika)

Enjoy!

Top Tips:

My two top tips when making soup is to use butter when you add the potatoes, and to roast the pumpkin instead of having to peel it, cut it up, and boil it.
As a busy mom of three I really don’t have a lot of time for that.

Roasting the pumpkin isn’t only much easier but gives your soup much more depth of flavour.