25 October 2013

Pumpkin cream-soup

This is an easy to cook and very seasonal dish that is amazingly rich and nourishing. All the ingredients I use here are organic.

Ingredients:

1 medium pumpkin
2 large carrots
2 medium onions
2-3 garlic cloves
100 g butter (I use 1/2 a block or sometimes more)
small bunch of green onions (optional)
small bunch of parsley (optional)
50 - 100 g double cream
1 1/2 - 2 litres chicken stock (warm or hot)
sea salt and ground black pepper (to taste)

Equipment:

Hand blender

Instructions:

Clean the pumpkin using the potato peeler, or any other way you prefer. Cut it in small cubes and set it aside. Finely chop onions and garlic and sauté them slightly in a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet with a generous blob of butter. Peel and grate the carrots and place them together with the onions and garlic, add roughly chopped green onion if using and pumpkin cubes, cover with a lid and cook until the pumpkin is very soft. At the end add some salt and pepper and the last chuck in some chopped parsley, if using. Leave it with the closed lid for a minute or 2 and turn off the gas.

Place all the ingredients from the skillet into approximately 3 litre pan, add half of the chicken stock, the rest of the butter, 50 g of the double cream and using hand blender blend the mixture till it reach the consistency that you like. Try it and see if you need to adjust salt and pepper; see if it is liquid enough for your taste, if not add some more stock and/or cream and blend a bit more or just mix everything with a big spoon. Taste again to see that you are happy with the result.

It is very good on a cold autumn day with a spoon of sour-cream and some croutons or just on its own.
Please enjoy!