Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Even though the days are bright and beautiful, there is a new yet lovely crispness to the air which really confirms the change from summer to autumn. With this change of season, its brings a desire all things comfy and cosy. With that feeling in mind we’ve pulled out our stock pot and used what was to hand in the garden – pumpkin!

A delicate and flavourful soup, brought to the next level by adding a savoury and sweet topping of Pink Lady apple and streaky bacon. We also roasting the pumpkin before putting it into the soup which brings a real depth of flavour to the soup.

Feel free to substitute the pumpkin for butternut squash or similar and also this soup is a fabulous way for using up your carved pumpkin after Halloween! Though please make sure you have only carved it a day or 2 previous. Don’t forget you can also save your pumpkin seeds and roast them for a delicious snack. Check out our easy recipe here.

Written by Corin

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes (plus 20 minute wait time)
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

For the soup:

• Drizzle olive oil
•  1 small pumpkin, seeds removed and chopped into eighths (approx 1.2-1.5kg of pumpkin flesh after seeds removed)
• Salt and pepper to season
• 2 additional tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic gloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups/1 litre vegetable broth
• 1 can 400ml unsweetened coconut milk

For the topping:

• Drizzle olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 large pink lady apple, chopped
• 5 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped

Equipment

• ProWare Stainless Steel Tri-ply Roasting Pan
• ProWare Copper Tri-ply Stock Pot
• ProWare 24cm Copper Base Frying Pan with non-stick interior
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon
• Scale
• Peeler
• Tablespoon
• Hand-held immersion blender or soup blender

Cooking Method

For the soup:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 F.
2. Place pumpkin flesh side down on a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
3. Roast for 30 minutes or until the orange flesh of the pumpkin is easily pierced with a fork.
4. Set aside to cool.
5. When cool, removed the skin with your fingers or a small sharp knife. This should peel away easily. Chop in to small pieces
6. Heat the additional olive oil in the stock pot over a medium heat and once it is shimmering add the garlic, carrots, onion, celery and parsnip. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
7. Now add the pumpkin, warm stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the parsnip and carrot are cooked through.
8. Remove the stock pot from the hob and let cool for a few minutes then using your hand blender or similar blend the soup until smooth.
9. Return the stock pot to the hob over a low heat.
10. Open the coconut milk and melt if necessary in the microwave, then add half to the soup keeping the remaining to drizzle over the soup as a garnish.

For the topping:

1. In the non-stick frying pan, heat a generous drizzle of olive oil and once hot add the onion and bacon. Sauté for 5 to 10 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and the onions are soft and slightly caramelised at the edges.
2. Add the apple and continue to sauté for 2 minutes stirring often.
3. Remove from heat and add the chopped parsley, stirring and then serving on top of each bowl of pumpkin soup along with a drizzle of warmed coconut milk.

*Make it vegetarian/vegan – omit bacon in the topping