Pumpkin Soup

My first taste of pumpkin soup was back when Louis and I were honeymooning in Europe. It was winter and the weather in Brugge, this little quaint town in Belgium, was so chilly and cold that a tureen of soup sounded really heartening and warming. Although I must say that I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about pumpkin soup at that time -- actually, I've never eaten pumpkin anything prior to that. That was an experience that changed my perspective on pumpkin and pumpkin soup. I came back a convert on pumpkin soup and googled many a sites before I stumbled onto a pumpkin recipe that is now my favourite.

It was only a few years later that I come to learn that pumpkin contains high levels of antioxidants and carotene, notably vitamin C and E and therefore may lower cancer risk, heart disease, cataracts and strokes. So, I'm always congratulating myself for being unwittingly discerning whenever I make pumpkin soup. Hahaha...

Anyways, I've decided to put up this post becos Jean has requested for me to share my pumpkin soup recipe. Unfortunately, I've lost that recipe and even though it was found on BBC's Good Food website, I've since been unable to find that same recipe again. Nonetheless, I've made it enough times to remember the ingredients, although not necessarily the proportions. To the best of memory, the below portions are guesstimate, so you might need to add or reduce some ingredients to adjust the taste a little.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
400-500g pumpkin or butternut squash, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 small-medium size potatoes, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, deseed and diced
2-3 stripes of streaky bacon, diced (optional)
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1.5L chicken stock (good if its home-made, otherwise Knorr's clear chicken broth with no MSG is also good)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1) Sautee the streaky bacon in a pot big enough to cook the soup until the fat oozes out. If you like, can add a little olive oil too. Next, add in the diced pumpkin, carrot, potatoes and bell pepper and mix well, about 2-3 minutes.

2) At this point, I usually reduce the heat, cover the pot and let the vegetables sweat in the pot for about 5-8 minutes. Thereafter, add in the chicken stock and cherry tomatoes. Bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and let the vegetables simmered covered until tender, about 20-25 minutes.

3) Puree the mixture (be careful there!) and then transfer it back to the pot again. Bring the soup back to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve it hot with crusty bread if you like :)

This sounds like a lot of ingredients to chop and dice but I really like it a lot. The other way to make pumpkin soup is to cube the pumpkin into about 3 cm pieces, lay them on a single layer in a baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and put into the oven to bake for about 30-45 minutes (depending on size) until tender. Puree the roasted pumpkin, transfer the pureed pumpkin into a pot and add chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Personally, I prefer the recipe for the first pumpkin soup. Even though it involves a lot more work chopping and dicing, the end result is well worth the effort :)

Happy cooking!