Pumpkin soup

One of thirty five Pumpkins in our garden

It's always Winter / Fall/ Autumn somewhere so it's not madness for the subject for a post written on a desperate 37C day to be about a favourite cold day food - Pumpkin Soup. Yes. I do know that my favourite food is regarded as being only good for cattle to eat in some parts of the world and in another part is turned into a sweet pie with its own sweetness being destroyed in the process.

In our garden pumpkins please themselves where they wander almost all year round. None of them have ever been deliberately planted. They just emerge from the soil wherever compost has been deposited by the gardener in the family who has a belief that the only good plants are those that are edible. So, my bromeliads and other non useful plants get smothered until I go out and rescue them.

Anyone want a pumpkin ?

This year we have been massively overwhelmed by the abundance of the inadvertent crop harvesting at least 35 on my last count. Now, in the height of summer, plants are still growing and flowering and we haven't finished eating the frozen soup yet.

I have been surprised to find that my tomato soup is remembered long term by those who have partaken it that years later I have had requests from them for my recipie. I don't, however, have a firm recipie with regular amounts of this and that but this is what I do . . .

To prepare, I cut the pumpkin into thin slices until I am tired of peeling and cutting and the pile on the cutting board is overflowing. I also peel and thinly slice at least two big onions and potatoes and crush several cloves of garlic. I chop a couple of stalks of celery into small pieces. [The potatoes help to thicken the soup as it cooks and the celery gives it fibre.]

I then prepare the stock by dissolving about 4 chicken cubes in hot water with a large spoonful of tomato paste. I also cut up about three fat-free rashers of bacon into small pieces. Sometimes I use diced bacon from the deli instead.

Pumpkin Soup starting to cook

The next stage is the actual cooking. I put a little sunflower or canola oil in the bottom of my largest pot, add the bacon, onion and garlic and cook until the onion is opaque. Then I throw in the pumpkin, potato and celery along with the prepared stock. The stock fills a measuring cup so it is necessary to add several more cups of boiling water to dilute the stock and have enough liquid as well. Next I add a can of diced Italian seasoned tomatoes and some freshly cut tomatoes as well. Finally I add a generous shake of mixed herbs and oregano. I add a shake or two of pepper but as the chicken stock cubes can be salty, I leave the salt to the end of the cooking.

Pumpkin Soup - ready to eat

Once the soup comes to the boil I turn the heat down low and allow to simmer slowly for about an hour or so. By this time the vegetables are very soft and easy to mash so I do that being careful not to get burned. If we are having guests who don't like chunky soup I puree some for them but we like it chunky -ish. I check the taste and add more salt and pepper then serve it hot with small bread rolls or garlic bread.

Family favourite - Pumpkin Soup

The remainder of the soup I then freeze for a quick lunch on a busy day.

Another favourite pumpkin dish is Pumpkin Curry . . . another time!

Kama Lasti !