Pumpkin soup

Soup is synonymous with winter.  It is the culinary embodiment of dark, wintry nights spent indoors curled up with a good book in front of the fire.  It is the ultimate comfort food, especially when served with warm crusty bread spread generously with salted butter.

I made this soup using bright orange pumpkin, a variety I had never seen before here in New Zealand.  As you can see from the photos it resulted in a bright orange soup with a flavour so intense it was hailed the best soup my willing testers had ever tried!

Once you have mastered this recipe, try adding coconut cream and red curry paste to this soup for an Asian inspired version.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• --
• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5kg pumpkin, peeled and chopped into rough 5cm cubes
• 300g new potatoes, chopped into rough 5cm cubes
• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 2 dried, whole red chilli’s, finely chopped
• 5 large sprigs marjoram
• 1 litre chicken stock
• s&p

Method

• --
• 1. Place the butter and olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt and then add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add the chilli and marjoram and cook for a further minute.
• 2. Add the pumpkin and potatoes and cover with the chicken stock. Simmer for around 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin and potatoes are soft.
• 3. Blend the soup, check for seasoning and then serve. This is quite a thick soup.