Recipe: Pumpkin Soup (incl. pictures)

So last night was the night: I held my fall inspired dinner party. I cooked for 7 adults and 3 kiddies and I have to say it was a success. That is why I will share some of the recipes I used, especially because it’s the perfect food for this time of year. Recipe number one, is the starter: Pumpkin Soup!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 small pumpkin (you need at least 1 KG or a little over 2 lbs, mine weighed 1.6 KG or roughly 3 lbs)
• 350 grams (or 12 – 13 oz) large carrots (I used 500 grams as I had a larger pumpkin)
• 2 onions
• Optional: 2 bell peppers (one red, one yellow)
• 1.5 – 2 liters (6 – 7 cups) of vegetable stock/ broth
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of ground up chili pepper
• (salt) & pepper to taste
• 200 ml (or roughly 1 cup) creme fraîche (not pictured)
• some koriander
• toasted pumpkin seeds (which you can take from your pumpkin)
• A hand blender!!!

Preparation:

1. Wash, clean & chop up all of your veggies. You can keep it in large chunks and it doesn’t have to be neat. You can keep the skin on the pumpkin as it is edible.
2. Make your broth by boiling 1.5 – 2 liters of water and adding the tablets that will make your broth (or you can be a super duper cook and make it from scratch, but you will have to make that the day before!). Use a whisk to make sure the tablets dissolve all the way.
3. Heat up your olive oil in a large soup pan and add your veggies. Stir fry them for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the cumin seeds, chili pepper and (salt) & pepper. Stir again.
5. Pour your broth into the soup pan and bring to a boil.
6. Let your veggies boil in the stock for about 20 minutes or until very soft.
7. Take the pan from the heat and now take a hand blender to turn the veggies into a thick puree.
8. Stir in about 2/3 of the creme fraîche.
9. Garnish with a dollup of creme fraîche, a pinch of koriander and some toasted pumpkin seeds.

I was so busy cooking last night that I forgot to take pictures of the final product, but this should get you an idea. Everyone said it tasted deliciously and I thought it came out quite nicely too.

Stayed tuned for the recipe for the dessert I made!

Q: Would you ever want to try making pumpkin soup? Have you ever tried it?