Delicious pumpkin soup recipe

Roast Pumpkin & Thyme Soup

Ingredients: 

• Approx. 2kg pumpkin peeled and diced

• 1 brown onion diced into large chunks

• 2 celery sticks cut into large chunks

• 4 garlic cloves, skins on

• Big handful of fresh thyme

• 1+ litres stock (we used 2 tsp urban forager chicken stock)

  +

• 3 cups / 2 x cans cooked chickpeas

• Pesto (see recipe below or use pre-made)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200˚C

    

2. Chuck the veggies and herbs on an oven tray, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Keep some of the thyme under the pumpkin so it doesn’t get too crispy. Roast until soft and beginning to char on edges, about 35 minutes.

    

3. Make the crispy chickpeas at the same time; drain and wash the chickpeas then pat dry with paper towel. Toss the chickpeas on a baking tray with a generous drizzle of olive and oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the tray in the oven above the pumpkin tray and roast for about 35 minutes, shaking the tray regularly, until golden and crunchy. Let cool.

4. When the veggies are done, remove and let cool for a bit. Pick the thyme leaves off and keep them for the soup, discarding the woody parts. Peel the garlic and discard the skins.

5. Either combine all ingredients (except chickpeas and pesto) in a pot and blend with a stick blender until smooth, or transfer in batches with cold stock to blender and blitz until smooth, then pour into a pot. Add more stock/water to desired consistency. 

6. Bring soup to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes to heat through, then serve with a dollop of pesto, a big handful of chickpeas and a drizzle of olive oil. Buttery toast is a must.

Early Autumn Pesto

• Big handful fresh basil leaves

• Big handful parsley

• Small handful fresh marjoram

• Small handful fresh thyme

(alternatively just use a mix of whatever fresh herbs you have, about 30g /  3 big handfuls, or a bit of dried herbs)

• 1-2 x clove garlic peeled

• Juice of half a small lemon

• ½ cup walnuts

• ½ cup olive oil

• Salt & Pepper 

Lightly toast the walnuts in a small frypan until beginning to brown, then set aside to cool. Once cool, chuck everything in the food processor until blitzed together, pouring the olive oil in to bring it all together at the end.

Our organic pumpkins are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. We’ve gone to visit this wonderful family who grow these pumpkins (the parents do the growing, the son does the sorting, organising & packing, and the Maremma Sheepdogs guard the property).