This beautiful seasonal soup stars pumpkin, paired with cauliflower - or substitute your choice of other delicious Winter vege. Easily adaptable and full of flavour, this hearty soup is a Winter winner!
You will need
700g of pumpkin - peeled and cubed weight (any type of pumpkin can be used)
1 small head of cauliflower - approx. 300g (or substitute the same weight in another seasonal vege, such as carrots, potatoes, celery or broccoli)
1 large fennel bulb (or substitute a bunch of baby leeks, 1 large leek or a large onion)
3 - 4 cloves garlic (or substitute 1 - 2 tsp Ceres organic garlic powder)
Small bunch of fresh thyme (or substitute fresh coriander or parsley)
1 litre of vegetable stock (or substitute chicken stock)
1 tsp ground nutmeg (or substitute ground cumin)
1 tsp ground turmeric (or substitute ground paprika)
Freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
Olive oil
What to do
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Peel the pumpkin and chop into small cubes. Toss in a roasting dish with a little olive oil. Rub the top of the whole cauliflower head with a small amount of olive oil and turmeric. Roast whole, along with the whole fennel bulb, whole garlic cloves and thyme leaves.
Roast your vegetables for approx. 45mins, or until the vege are all soft and well cooked through (a little charring is absolutely fine). Remove from the oven.
Remove the skins from your garlic cloves, and roughly chop the vege that were roasted whole into smaller pieces. Add all of the roast vege to a large pot, along with the vegetable stock, ground nutmeg and freshly ground sea salt & black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20mins.
Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly, before blending your soup with an immersion blender (stick mixer). You can blend it fully, or leave it a bit chunky - up to you. Serve immediately - enjoy next to a roaring fire to maximise the Winter good vibes.
Adaptations
Pack some extra goodness into your soup by adding finely sliced fresh leafy greens (such as watercress, silverbeet, nettle or spinach) to the pot at the halfway cooking point (10mins).
Make a creamy version of this soup by stirring through 250ml of either coconut cream or dairy cream after blending.
Bulk the soup up by stirring through precooked lentils or roasted chickpeas after blending - yum.
Make the soup a little bit fancy by adding a garnish of toasted pumpkin seeds or dukkah, a floret of the roast cauliflower or some fresh herbs.
This soup will last in the fridge for up to 7 days, and also freezes and reheats well.