When I first arrived in Australia, I noticed a lot of pumpkins in the markets and the fruit & veg shops. Being Irish, pumpkin wasn’t really on the menu, so I assumed after seeing many U.S. shows that people made pumpkin pie. OMG, was I wrong.
Aussies use pumpkin in very different ways, but mainly in savoury food like roast pumpkin, curries and sauces. But go to any restaurant or household in winter time and one of the staples is pumpkin soup, and I can see why. It is so comforting.
It is now part of the norm in my household, but of course I throw a few variations in here and there to spice it up. I think you will enjoy this recipe and my suggestions to spice it up.
Ingredients
I kg (2lb) pumpkin (I tend to use butternut pumpkin),
A knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock
Sour cream for dolloping
Serves: 4 people
Instructions
Peel, deseed and chop the pumpkin into chunks.
In a large soup pot, melt the butter and saute the onion.
Add the pumpkin and the stock to the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
Using a food processor or a blender, process the mixture until smooth. You may need to remove the mixture from the pot and allow it to cool a little to do this, depending on the device you are using.
Return the mixture to the pot to heat up. Add salt and pepper to flavour.
Serve in soup bowls with a dollop of sour cream.
Variations:
Thai flavours
At stage 5 add 1 -2 tablespoons of sweet thai chilli sauce. Allow it to cook for 3 – 5 minutes. Chop some fresh coriander and serve the soup with the coriander sprinkled on top. It is still nice with the sour cream also.
Indian flavours:
Add curry powder at stage five and heat the soup for a further 10 minutes to bring out the flavours, before serving.
Moroccan style:
Instead of adding onion as per step 2, saute 3 cloves pot garlic (finely chopped), 1½teaspoons of cumin seeds, 3 cm piece of ginger (finely chopped) and a stick of cinnamon. Continue with the steps, removing the cinnamon stick before blending the mixture at step 4. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice before reheating. This can be served with chopped coriander.
Roasted pumpkin & garlic:
Before adding the pumpkin chunks to the stock, rub with some olive oil and roast them with a few cloves of garlic until golden brown. Then continue making the soup as per steps 3 to 6.
Add less liquid:
If you add less stock, it becomes more like a sauce that can be used on pasta. We find it great on gnocchi or tortellini.
Have you some ideas on how to add more flavour to this great and simple soup? Anything to spice it up or add some variety? Share with us – I’m sure everyone would like to know.
If you have never made this soup before, enjoy giving it a go. Don’t forget the crusty bread!
Cooking passionately,
Attracta & the earthly passion team.