Thursday 14 November 2013

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Do you remember the amazing eight ball courgette that turned into a pumpkin in a sunny windowsill? Well tonight I decided to make soup out of the little beauty.

When I cut it open it looked as if it needed to 'ripen' a little more as the flesh was green just underneath the skin turning to orange nearer the centre. The centre cavity was full with stringy flesh and seeds.When this vegetable was a courgette there was no cavity-go figure?




As the 'pumpkin' looked under ripe and because in real terms it was an old courgette, I thought that the taste would be fairly bland. So the best thing to do in the case of a bland vegetable is spice it up!

I was torn between roasting the flesh or boiling it, but in the end time got the better of me and boil it was, along with all the other ingredients too!

The result, the 'pumpkin' produced a tasty soup thanks to the spices, it wasn't like a true pumpkin which gives you thick velvety soup, instead it gave a thinner soup due to the water content within the vegetable itself. Next year I will definitely be growing these again, as I need to do some more experimenting, perhaps roasting it would provide more flavour. Thank you gardening angel for introducing me to the wonders of the eight ball courgette/pumpkin.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Rapeseed Oil
2 Small onions
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Jalapeno chilli
1 Knob of ginger
2 Tsp Coriander
1 Tsp Garam Masala
1 Tsp Cumin
½ Tsp Black pepper, ground
1 Eight ball courgette/pumpkin (mine weighed around 900g before peeling and chopping and around 500g after).
700ml Vegetable stock*250ml Coconut milk*

* If I were to make this again, I would use 500ml vegetable stock and 400ml coconut milk.

Method
Chop the onions, finely dice the jalapeno chilli and grate the garlic and ginger. Add to a pan with the rapeseed oil. Fry until the onions are starting to go brown, do not let them burn though as this will give a bitter taste to the soup.

Add the spices to the onions and stir to combine, cook over a low heat for a minute being careful not to let the spices burn.

Add the 'pumpkin' and stir to coat with the spice and onion mixture. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Let the mixture simmer until the 'pumpkin' is soft and can easily be pierced with a knife tip. 

Add the coconut milk and stir to combine thoroughly, this will also help the mixture cool down before you blend.

Once the mixture has cooled, transfer to a liquidiser and blend to a smooth consistency, you may need to do this in a couple of batches. Transfer to a clean saucepan and gently heat through before serving.


This would also work with a standard pumpkin but you may need to add more vegetable stock or coconut milk.

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Thanks for leaving a comment, Jasmine x