Roast Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin soup is a staple for chilly nights. The pumpkin itself lends creamy and savoury flavours, but roasting it adds a caramelised twist. The addition of a few extra vegetables adds more depth and elevates this dish to peak comfort food status.

Ingredients

2 kg pumpkin

1 leek (white part only) sliced

2 carrots

2 parsnips

5 cloves garlic (whole)

1.50 L chicken or vegetable stock

300 ml cream

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp each salt and pepper

crusty bread, toasted and buttered, to serve

sour cream, for drizzling (optional)

Ingredients

4 lbs pumpkin

1 leek (white part only) sliced

2 carrots

2 parsnips

5 cloves garlic (whole)

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

10 fl oz cream

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp each salt and pepper

crusty bread, toasted and buttered, to serve

sour cream, for drizzling (optional)

Ingredients note

I prefer the flavour of Kent or Jap pumpkins, but you can use any pumpkin you prefer.
Adjust the consistency of the soup at the end of cooking by adding more stock (the last step in the recipe will prompt this).
If you don’t have fresh thyme, substitute with a teaspoon of dried thyme.
Optionally, drizzle over some sour cream or regular cream before serving. You can also dust the soup with some ground nutmeg or paprika before serving for visual effect and flavour.

Variations

This may sound a little left-of-centre, but I love adding some cooked crab meat to my pumpkin soup! The two flavours just work so well together.

If you want something a little less out there, try topping your pumpkin soup with strips of crispy prosciutto, pancetta or jamon. The textural contrast of the soup and crispy meat works really well, and the salty kick it lends is divine.

Directions

1Roast the vegetables

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C / 400°F (180°C / 360°F fan-forced), and line several baking trays with baking paper (I use three trays, but I promise that roasting the veggies is worth it for the flavour!).

2. Chop the vegetables:

Cut the pumpkin into even sized pieces, about 5cm / 2 inches.
Halve the carrots lengthways, then chop into thirds.
Halve the parsnips, then cut into two or three pieces depending on size.
Peel the garlic cloves.

3. Sprinkle ground nutmeg over the pumpkin.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not burned or blackened.

2Cook the soup

1. Add the oil to a large pot and place over low-medium heat.

2. Add the sliced leek, and stir regularly so that it doesn’t burn. Saute for about 3 minutes or until the leek is softened.

3. Add the stock, thyme, salt, pepper and the roasted veggies to the pot, and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes.

3Puree the soup

1. Remove the pot from heat and remove the thyme sprigs.

2. Use an immersion blender directly in the pot to puree the soup (alternatively, carefully transfer the soup to a blender, then return to the pot once pureed).

3. Return the pot to low-medium heat. Add the cream and stir through.

4. Assess the consistency; if you’d like a thinner soup, add some more stock incrementally. Cook just until the soup is beginning to bubble.

Serve with toasted and buttered bread. For visual presentation, you can drizzle over sour cream or cream or dust over some parsley, nutmeg or paprika (which adds some nice flavour too).

Wine pairing

A thick soup like this one, with its creamy consistency, can be hard to pair with wine. So, I tend to reach for some lesser known varieties:

Viognier has the mouthfeel to stand up to the creamy consistency of the soup.
Gewürztraminer has nice contrasting aromatics.
A dry Riesling without too much citrus will also work well.