Spotlight Magazines Spotlight Magazine Sinfin & Stenson Fields Oct 15 | Page 6

Spotlight Magazine Pumpkin Soup Pumpkin Soup Serves 6 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes (If roasting pumpkin add 20-30 minutes) Ingredients Soup 4 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, finely chopped 1kg / 2lb 3oz pumpkins or squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks ½ -1 tsp ground cumin 700ml / 24 fl oz vegetable stock or chicken stock 142ml / 5fl oz pot double cream Salt and pepper Garnish While the soup is cooking heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, then fry the lardons until deep golden brown. Add some chopped chilli and a few small sage leaves to taste, then cook for a few mins more until they too are tinged with colour. Reheat the soup if needed, season to taste, then serve scattered with the lardon garnish. Note: Although this recipe will work with Halloween pumpkins they tend to be bred for size rather than flavour. If you want to use a Halloween pumpkin I’d recommend drizzling the pumpkin pieces with olive oil first, mixing them with the cumin and roasting them in the oven on Gas 6 / 200C for 20-30 minutes. Then follow the recipe as before. Roasting brings out the maximum flavour. 75g / 3oz lardons Chopped chilli (optional) Tiny sage leaves (optional) Method Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the finely chopped onions for 5 mins, until soft but not coloured. Add the peeled, deseeded and chopped pumpkin or squash to the pan with the ground cumin, then carry on cooking for 8-10 mins, stirring occasionally until it starts to soften and turn golden. Pour the vegetable stock into the pan, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins until the squash is very soft. Pour the pot of double cream into the pan, bring back to the boil, then purée with a hand blender. For an extra-velvety consistency you can now push the soup through a fine sieve into another pan. 6 www.spotlightlocal.co.uk • 01332 416 121 • [email protected]