With the 13th Collector Village Pumpkin Festival underway, I thought I’d get into the spirit and share a pumpkin soup recipe with you all. It would make the perfect lunch or dinner on this windy autumn day.
I really like this velvety Italian version with just a hint of cloves. The recipe was given to me years ago by old school friend, Ros McLusky. It has undergone a few changes since then.
Serves 6-7
1 kilo butternut or other pumpkin
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 leeks, roughly sliced
2 stalks celery, roughly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cloves, freshly ground or 1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups milk
5 cups vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A bunch of flat-leaf parsley
freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve
Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the unpeeled pumpkin into large chunks and rub with olive oil. Bake in the oven until cooked. Cool, remove the skin and cut into smaller pieces.
Alternatively the pumpkin can be peeled and cubed and cooked in the soup. Add along with the stock and milk.
Heat a large saucepan with olive oil, leek, celery, garlic and salt. Cover and cook gently until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add stock, milk, (cubed pumpkin), cloves and pepper, bring to the boil and simmer until vegetables are tender. Now add roasted pumpkin and cook for another 5 minutes. Puree the soup with a stick blender. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Chop the parsley finely. Serve soup dribbled with olive oil and scattered with parsley. Pass the parmesan.
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