One of my all time favourite recipes. I'm not too big on hallowe'en but this just screams autumn and bonfire night to me...
This recipe's fairly forgiving, I've included a spiced vegetable stock but you can use any stock that you have to hand, or even a cube. I usually use whichever pumpkin comes in my veg box, crown prince and red lantern give great colour, but butternut squash is always a good substitute.
For the stock
1 onion
1 head of garlic
2 large carrots
3 sticks of celery
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
1.5l cold water
For the soup
2 onions
1 tbsp veg oil
1 large or 2 small pumpkins / squashes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Method
1) To make the stock, half the vegetables (wash but don't peel there's a lot of flavour in skins and the onions give it a good colour) and place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours before straining.
2) Peel and slice the onions and sweat with no colour over a low heat in a large pan with the oil (5-10 minutes).
3) Dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds over a medium heat in a frying pan until fragrant and then grind (skip this step and use ground spices if in a rush, but if you have the time you can taste the difference!).
4) Peel and deseed the pumpkin, cut into large dice.
5) Add the cumin and coriander once the onions have softened and stir, add pumpkin and stir to cover in the spice mix.
6) Add enough stock to just cover the pumpkin, put a lid on the pan, turn down the heat and simmer until the pumpkin is tender (around 10-15 minutes).
7) Blitz until completely smooth, adding a little water / stock if too thick.
8) Add garam masala and salt to taste, it may require a lot if you're using homemade stock, considerably less if using a cube.
To get all cheffy and ponce this one up a swirl of cream or yoghurt and some roasted pumpkin seeds on the top always look good. A nice slice of homemade sourdough also goes wonderfully with the inherent sweetness of the pumpkin.
Enjoy, and let me know how you get on!
