Pumpkin soup
You need to have this delightfully warming pumpkin soup on hand when autumn rolls around and there are pumpkins aplenty. It works just as well with dense orange squashes like butternut. Serve with a swirl of cream and some toasted seeds from the pumpkin.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium pumpkin (prepared weight about 850g/1lb 14oz) deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 medium-sized floury potato, such as Maris Piper, roughly chopped
- 1 litre/1¾ pint vegetable or chicken stock, a little extra may be needed
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Put the onion, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, butter and half the olive oil into a large pan. Cook over a low–medium heat for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender but not coloured.
Add the squash and potato, mix to combine and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Pour in the stock, season well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, half cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook for about 40 minutes until the squash is really tender when tested with the point of a knife.
Pick out the bay leaf and blend the soup until smooth using a stick blender.
Add the cream and a little more stock if the soup is on the thick side, taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as required.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the pumpkin seeds and fry quickly until the seeds start to pop. Remove from the pan.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a swirl of cream and the toasted pumpkin seeds.
Recipe Tips
Pumpkins vary considerably in their flavour and sweetness. A large pumpkin (typically used as a jack o'lantern) will almost always have more water, less flavour and a spongy texture. Use a small culinary pumpkin, or switch to a reliable squash such as Crown prince or butternut.
You can make this soup with leftover roast butternut squash or pumpkin, reducing the simmering time to 15 minutes, just so the potato is cooked through.