April 27, 2017
So on the weekend it was my birthday, and my partner took me for a drive and about an hour away. It was a great day for it, and an awesome way to spend my birthday. I am a huge birthday celebrator, and so I am probably a massive pain to organise things for. I never like to let a birthday just slip away and always want to do something to make it special, which I guess my partner has gotten used to over the years. Now that I’m writing this it sounds high maintenance, and maybe I am! But there’s something about celebrating a birthday that makes me feel so much happier, and gives you something to look forward to. I just love making a big fuss out of birthdays, not just my own! So when mine comes around, it’s always nice to have a few fun activities planned! This year was no different, my partner organised an amazing birthday weekend and I was totally spoilt! So much food, seriously, we both felt so heavy come Monday. But it was totally worth it for the amazing birthday celebration I ended up having. I truly am so lucky to have such an amazing partner, family and friends who all make me feel so special.
So anyway, back to the drive. We were driving to the dam where we were having lunch, and drove past a farm selling pumpkins. Now, I’ve always loved the idea of buying from these little roadside stores, but I’ve never actually stopped and bought something. I’m not really sure why, perhaps it’s just that I haven’t been heading home afterwards, so have had no where to store what I buy. But as it was my birthday, my kind partner stopped for me so I could buy a pumpkin. Honestly, the pure joy that would have been written on my face, I think my partner probably thought I was a bit weird for getting that excited about buying a pumpkin from the roadside. But I carried my huge, delicious looking pumpkin to his car with pride.
Then we got home, and I realised that we had a whole pumpkin to eat between two people. At the time it seemed like a great idea, and very cost effective. But a whole pumpkin is a lot of pumpkin to go through when you’re a household of two! Luckily I knew the perfect solution for a surplus of pumpkin: the first pumpkin soup of the year!
My partner was quite impressed that I said confidently and slightly blase that of course I knew how to make pumpkin soup and to leave it with me. It made me feel good that I am able to make up a pumpkin soup recipe as I go along, as it makes me feel like I’m getting better at cooking and understanding the flavours and ingredients available to me. I got pretty excited about making this soup during the week, and so when the time came, I sort of popped a whole heap of ingredients in and what came about was a soup that worked surprisingly well – who would have thought! So I figured it was worth sharing with you all given that it was so successful!
I was also really happy because it allowed me to use one of my amazing birthday presents for the first time – a KitchenAid stick blender! I don’t know when I started wanting cooking appliances and homewares for birthdays and christmas, but it’s happened, and I’m actually totally ok with it! Now I have matching KitchenAid products, a place I never thought I would be, not for many years anyway! I guess the VitaMix is probably the next step for me, right? Although I might run out of room soon!
- 1 large Kent or Jap Pumpkin, chopped into chunks
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 5 cups hot water
- 2 cubes chicken stock
- 2 tsp tumeric powder
- 5 handfuls baby spinach leaves
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Preheat oven to 200C (390F). Line a baking tray with baking paper, and place the pumpkin pieces on the tray. Drizzle with 1 of the tablespoons of coconut oil, and sprinkle with thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Place in the oven for an hour, or until the pumpkin is soft.
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Remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow to cool slightly. While it cools, heat the remaining coconut oil in a large pot over a medium heat on the stove top. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, paprika and parsley flakes, and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Peel the skin off the pumpkin pieces and add to the pot, stirring to stop it from sticking. Once all the pumpkin is in the pot, add the hot water, along with the chicken stock cubes and turmeric, and stir to combine.
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Cook for 25 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to prevent sticking. Once the pumpkin has broken down and the soup has reduced, add the baby spinach and stir, allowing to cook down for a minute.
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Turn the heat off and grab a stick blender. Blend the mixture until completely smooth, ensuring no large bits of spinach remain.
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Serve with hot crusty bread, or just on it's own.
This recipe made absolutely delicious pumpkin soup! I must admit, I was a bit unsure as to how the addition of spinach would work out, as I’ve never seen it done before in a smooth pumpkin soup. It actually was really delicious, and I think it added something more than just additional nutrients! It was an easy way to get a bit of extra greens into our diet – that’s for sure! The flavours in the soup were beautiful, not too hot, just enough to give it a bit of an extra kick! You can also easily add a sprinkle of salt and pepper at the end to make it to your taste!
Roasting the pumpkin is a great way to get the full flavours out of it for the soup, and I really wouldn’t bother doing it any other way now that I’ve tried this. There’s something about the caramelisation of the pumpkin that really makes the soup packed full of flavour. It’s also easy as you don’t have to take the skin off the pumpkin until you’ve roasted it, at which point it just peels off, and then it’s a matter of cooking it down in the stock. If you don’t have a stick blender, you could easily use a regular blender to mix the soup. Just make sure you take the little circular part off the lid and cover with a tea towel (an old Nigella trick), otherwise you could have a soup explosion on your hands!
This soup is a nice and healthy winter meal. It feels Morish so you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything, but you didn’t feel all heavy after eating it. The addition of turmeric, I’m told, is also anti-inflammatory, so is a great ingredient to add to cooking, as you barely taste it in the soup. You could easily sub it out though, or use olive oil instead of coconut oil if you have it on hand.
So there you have it, a use for my roadside pumpkin purchase! My partner absolutely loved this soup (especially with the extra breadrolls) and now we have heaps left over to freeze for a night where we don’t feel like cooking – how good is that? It’s the pumpkin that keeps on giving.
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
