The genesis of this vegan spiced pumpkin soup recipe
Every year my children want to carve pumpkins for Halloween as children do… We have a “pumpkin patch” near us where you “pick your own”. They always go for the biggest ones! So this poses the problem of what to do with the pumkins afterwards? The obvious solution is a vegan spiced pumpkin soup. But it’s not that easy! Pumpkins are tricky critters, and it can be hard to get the flavour right or it’s too bland. But this version I think is a good balance.
The best way to deal with those pesky pumpkin critters
I have tried various methods of roasting the pumkin to get a richer flavour. First option is leaving the skins on then baking in halves , or baking in smaller strips & then scooping and spooning out the soft flesh from the skin. That’s quite messy and tricky and doesn’t give a really full flavour. This is because the skins & flesh cover most of the surface. The other alternative is to cut into strips about 3cm – 4cm wide & cut the skin off with a sharp knife. Then cut into roughly 3 to 4cm cubes, coat with oil in a large saucepan & then transfer to baking trays. I think this is the easiest way that I’ve managed to work out.
The balance of veggies to pumkin is tricky
All pumkin and no other veggies would be a little bland but how much of each and what is the tricky part. Here I’ve gone for sweet potato, carrot, onion and celery as the accompaniments. Not too much of each – but enough to round out the flavour & give it extra oomph.
Spices to boost and compliment the flavour
Rather than going for a curry powder approach which some recipes do – I’ve kept it simple but authentic with corriander, cummin & chilli powder. The garlic and ginger add some extra notes to the mix – without overpowering the base of roasted pumpkin. Note: no witches were harmed in the making of this soup!
Serving as always depends on your taste so do experiment
A swirl of soya yogurt, oat cream or soya cream is always good. You can add a small amount of finely chopped corriander leaves to give it a lift. I love to have my soups with sourdough bread freshly toasted with plant based spread & often low salt yeast extract. A serving of around 330g is a good measure for this vegan spiced pumkin soup.
Vegan Spicy Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
Method
- If the pumpkin has been used for halloween, it's easy as it's already scooped out. If not cut the stalk out by cutting all round it to remove completely, and then cut the pumpkin in half. The reason is the stalk end is very tough and you are likely to cut yourself if you try to cut through it and most of it can't be used anyway. Then scoop out all the seeds and either dry for roasting or discard.
- At this point turn the oven on to 180°C as it will need to be warming up. Then cut the pumpkin from top to bottom into roughly 2 inch/5cm wide segments. Then cut the skin off with a sharp knife on a board. Generally I like to keep skins on, but pumpkin is very tough so in this case is best removed. Then cut into roughly square chunks and tip into a large saucepan.
- Pour enough the olive oil and stir well, so the chunks are lighly coated. Then tip into a pyrex or metal oven roasting dish. And put in the oven. They will need around 1½ hours - but you can turn it down after 45 minutes to around 150°C
- next do the sweet potatoes as they will take less time. Wash and remove any manky bits, but don't peel them - the skin is quite edible. Cut into roughly 1½ inch chunks - again put them in a saucepan to coat with oil. Then transfer to the oven in a pyrex dish or roasting tray.
- next chop the onions. Peel first and either cut each half into four and blitz in a food processer or chop by hand. The pieces need to be reasonably small, but not that small as were going to blitz it at the end anyway. Around half-way through put a large enough pan on the hob on a low medium heat with a reasonable amount of top quality cold pressed olive oil or rapeseed oil. When it's come up to heat tip the onions in.
- Now is a good time to sort the garlic and ginger. Cut any manky bits off the ginger, roughly chop and blitz well. Then add to the gently sauteeing onions.
- Remove the skins and chop or blitz the garlic in a spice grinder attachment
- Don't forget to check the pumkin and sweet potatoes in the oven, which will require occasional turning over to keep them coated with oil.
- While you're waiting for the onions to come up to heat and start cooking, scrub the carrots and peel or scrape any bits with dirt in the grooves. Then chop the prepared carrots in half and then into 1cm lenghts or slice in a food processor - then add to the pan. Give periodic stirs - you may need to turn the heat down to stop it sticking and add a little more oil and a touch of water to help it along. You can also cover the pan to keep the heat and steam in.
- Then wash the celery stalks and then chop the washed celery stalks into reasonably short lengths - but don't overdo it - around 1cm is fine. Alternatively just use a food processor to slice. Tip in the pan and keep giving periodic stirs. Check the pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Now is a good time to add all the spices as there's less risk of it sticking.
- once the mixture of celery, sweet potatoes, onions etc is softening and browning a little - if the pumpkin and sweet potato chunks are suffieciently roasted, just turn off the gas and wait. Roasted pumpkin should look like this - not too brown.
- sweet poato ready to go in the pan.
- As soon as the roasting pumpkin & sweet potato chunks are soft to a sharp knife - you can add them to the pan along with the coconut milk.
- Add water to just cover the veggies and bring to a very slow simmer. Keep going occasionally stiring for around 30 to 45 minutes to really soften the veggies. This needs a little more water to just cover the veggies.
- Then use a stick blender to obtain a fairly smooth consistency.
- Batch up into 325g portions. This is a good quantity for a filling meal with a slice or two of wholemeal bread.
