Eat Healthy for winter with LFW’s Pumpkin Soup!

By Emma

You asked for it—and here it is! LFW’s very own Three Pumpkin Soup recipe! I would love to say there is nothing in this soup but pumpkin but I have to admit a little cheating… We always add a medium size potato as this makes the soup lovely and thick. If you’re Paleo, nightshade, or low-carb you can substitute sweet potato—this also gives the soup a lovely orange colour.

This is the basic soup recipe. However, you can ring the changes by adding various ingredients to make Thai Pumpkin soup, Indian Curry Pumpkin soup, or come up with something that’s totally your own creation!

In all our recipes (see below) we have used fresh ingredients, particularly in the Indian version where we haven’t just tossed in a bit of ready-made curry paste or powder. So give yourself time to get everything ready before you start.

Basic Three Pumpkin soup (serves 2 – 3)

What you need

The three pumpkins we use are: Butternut (for sweetness), Java (for real pumpkin taste and thickening), and Golden Nugget (for colour) plus:1 small/medium potato; ½ medium sweet potato (optional); good size knob of butter, milk, and salt and black pepper to taste.

What you do

Roughly chop 2 cups Butternut pumpkin, 2 cups Java, 2 cups Golden Nugget and the potato and place in a large saucepan. Barely cover with water and bring to the boil; boil until the pumpkin is soft and ready to blend—about 15 – 20 minutes. Drain the pumpkin reserving the water. Blend in batches in an upright blender or use a blender stick; we prefer to use a blender as this produces a smoother soup. Add about 1 cup of water to each blend, and in the final blend and ½ cup water and ½ cup milk. Check each batch as you blend as you want to have a nice thick, creamy soup, so if you think it’s too runny add less water to the next blend. Return to soup to the heat and add a good knob of salted butter and salt and ground black pepper to taste. Warm through and serve immediately with nice Italian crusty bread. Any leftover soup will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for about 24 hours, and we usually finish it off for lunch the next day.

For pumpkin soup with another root vegetable (carrot, parsnip, potato, sweet potato, etc) simply substitute 2 cups of pumpkin for your choice of vegetable.

Thai Pumpkin soup

What you need

Basic ingredients plus: I finely chopped onion; 2 – 4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (depending on whether you like hot, very hot, or crying hot!); 1 tablespoon grated ginger; 400ml coconut milk; knob of butter; teaspoon fresh lime juice, and sliced red chilli to serve.

What you do

Melt the knob of butter in your large saucepan and cook the onion until soft, add the pumpkin, curry paste and grated ginger; cover with cold water and bring to boil, boil for about 15 – 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft and ready to blend. Drain the pumpkin and place in batches in the blender with 150ml of the coconut milk in each blend. Reserve 2 – 3 tablespoons of the coconut milk for serving, and add any remaining milk in the final blend. Return the soup to the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste, and warm through—do not overheat. When ready to serve spoon into bowls and swirl the remaining coconut milk into the soup. Sprinkle with slices of chilli and serve with warm flatbread—see recipes below. Delish!

Spicy Indian Curry Pumpkin soup

What you need

Basic ingredients plus: 1 finely chopped onion; 1 teaspoon crushed (or finely chopped) garlic; ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger; ½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds; 2 teaspoons sambar powder; 2 tablespoons chopped coriander; ½ teaspoon garam masala (optional); 4 curry leaves, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 vegetable stock cube, and salt and pepper to taste.

What you do

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil and add the cumin, ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 minute, then add the onion and sauté until soft. Add the pumpkin and sauté for 2 minutes then add the sambar and garam masala and mix well. Add 3 cups of water, the curry leaves and crumbled stock cube and stir well. Boil for 15 – 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. Blend in batches. Return to heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into bowls and decorate with coriander. Serve with warmed flatbread or Naan.

Garlic infused flatbread: Making garlic infused flatbread is easy and yummy. Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees celsius. Take a small whole pita pocket. cut in half, and open but don’t separate. Mix 1 teaspoon of butter with ½ teaspoon of crushed garlic and spread inside the pita pocket. Turn the oven off and warm the flatbread for about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Spicy Potato filled flatbread: Peel one small/medium potato and cut into small pieces (not chunks). Bring to boil in lightly salted water and boil until the pieces are soft. Drain and add the cumin and a knob of butter to the potato, then gently smash once or twice only with a potato masher—this needs to be chunky with noticeable potato pieces, then spread in the pita pocket. Warm in the oven for about 5 minutes and serve immediately.

What’s your favourite soup? Share your recipe here!