Newsletter # 51 – Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup

You will remember when I prepared the baked stuffed pumpkin in Newsletter # 49, I ended up with a lot of pumpkin, unused. Here is the recipe that solved that problem – roasted butternut pumpkin soup.

This is a recipe I developed for a hotel chain that was promoting a healthy eats menu. It was a time when over consumption of fat and salt was a focus. In the meantime, carbohydrates, among other nutrients have been added to the list. Never-the-less this is a tasty soup perfect for our upcoming winter. It is suitable to make it in bulk and freeze portions plus you can think up additional garnishes. Two garnishes that I have previously used include prawn and green onion as well as sour cream, macadamia, bacon and chives. Yes, it is a departure from ‘healthy eats’ but it is delicious. Another alternative that will also make the soup both gluten and dairy free is by adding light coconut milk.

The caramelising of the vegetables during the roasting will add natural flavour so if the healthy aspect of the recipe appeals to you, be careful you don’t over season the end result.

Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup

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Servings: 3.5 litres

Course: Soup

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2500-3000 g butternut pumpkin peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
• 750 g brown onion peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 tsp crushed ginger
• 2 tsp crushed chilli
• 3 bay leaves
• salt
• cracked pepper
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• Juice of one lemon
• Zest of half lemon
• 40 ml honey optional
• skim milk optional for finishing

Equipment

• You will need a stick blender or food processor for this recipe, while sieving the soup is optional.

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 180c
2. Assemble your ingredients
   
3. In a baking dish place the pumpkin, garlic,onion, ginger, chilli and bay leaves
   
4. Season with a little salt and cracked pepper
5. Add oil and give it a good stir
   
6. Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching the mix - golden brown is the aim
   
7. Add a splash of water if needed
8. Remove the pumpkin mix from the oven when the pumpkin is soft
   
9. Add the pumpkin mix and the stock to a suitably sized saucepan
10. De-glaze the baking dish with a little stock to free up any caramelised vegies and add to the saucepan
    
11. Bring the soup to simmering
12. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice
13. Simmer for 20 minutes
14. Remove the bay leaves and lemon zest
15. Add the honey
16. Turn the heat off
17. Blend the soup to a fine puree
    
18. At this point I strained the soup through a fine wire strainer, but that is optional
19. To serve add a little skim milk to give it an even creamier finish
    

Notes

I placed the bay leaves and lemon zest in the sieve for easier removal

 

I garnished with a dollop of sour cream

To finish today I have included a couple of images of the seafood cottage pies we made for Good Friday, for some of our residents.

Happy Easter, Ken and Chris.