My Hearty Pumpkin Soup Recipe
There’s nothing I want more on a chilly Autumnal day than a generous bowl of homemade soup topped with crunchy croutons and toasted pumpkin seeds. At this time of year, many of us will have spare pumpkins laying around the house, and there’s no better way to use them up than turning them into a nutritious soup that you can enjoy throughout the week!
Ingredients
1 Medium Pumpkin
1 Onion, Diced
3 Garlic Cloves, Diced
600ml Vegetable Stock
20ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2tsp Cinnamon Powder
A Few Slices of Sourdough Bread
1 Tin Light Coconut Milk
Salt & Pepper
Method
Firstly, preheat your oven to around 180C. Carefully halve your pumpkin and scoop out the seeds, reserving them for later.
Place your pumpkin in a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper. Roast for around 45 minutes until the flesh is soft.
Dice your onions and sauté in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until the onions begin to turn translucent, then add your diced garlic.
Meanwhile, wash your pumpkin seeds in a sieve and try to remove as much flesh from the seeds as possible.
Place your pumpkin seeds in a small roasting tray, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper and roast at 180C for around 20 minutes. Be sure not to burn them – I’ve made this mistake a few times!!
When your pumpkin is ready, scoop out the flesh and add it to the pan with your onions & garlic, then add your cayenne & cinnamon and allow the spices to cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
Add your stock to the pan and allow to come to the boil, then reduce the heat so that the soup is gently bubbling away.
Now get your croutons going; dice up a few slices of sourdough (stale bread works well for croutons!), and place in a small roasting tray with you guessed it; a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some salt & pepper. Cook for around 15 minutes until nice and crispy.
Meanwhile, add a tin of coconut milk to your soup, then blend your mixture. I use my thermomix for this but you can use any blender or stick-blender.
Pour the soup back into the saucepan to warm it if needed, then serve generous portions of your pumpkin soup topped with the crispy croutons, toasted pumpkin seeds & an extra drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!
