Pumpkin soup with chilli & ginger

It wouldn’t be Halloween without the obligatory pumpkin soup post would it?! Like Lockdown without banana bread...
My recipe this year took a slightly unexpected, but interesting, turn with the addition of coconut milk, chilli, lime and my latest discovery: dark roast peanut butter (linked in the ingredients). If you’ve never tried it you need to, it’s umami heaven! So good on toast too.
I’d originally planned to make more of a classic pumpkin soup with white wine and cream, but I went in a different direction and ended up using more Thai style flavours, which makes sense of the peanuts, right? They bring a deep savoury back note rather than being an obvious addition, I don’t think many people would be able to guess they were there, but they add a lovely subtle umami richness.
There’s also fresh ginger, a little chilli heat and a zing of lime - a bright note to counteract the sweetness of the roasted vegetables - essential in most dishes imo.

This recipe is for a big pan of soup so halve it if you prefer, but I always like to make extra for the freezer.

Ingredients

Makes 2.8l or 8 servings

• 1 medium sized pumpkin

• 1 squash, chopped weight approx 800g ex seeds

• 2 large onions, diced

• 30g fresh ginger, grated

• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

• 1 stock cube

• 1l water

• 400ml coco milk

• 1 tbsp dark roast peanut butter

• 2.5 tsp sea salt

• Handful of toasted pumpkin seeds

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Peel and chop the squash into wedges; place on a large tray with 1.5 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and mix well to coat. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, turn and repeat; the squash should be browned on at least a couple of sides. Remove from the oven and set aside.

• Chop the pumpkin in half, you might want to cut off the stalk at the top first though. Then put on a large roasting tray, covering the cut sides loosely with foil and place in the oven for approx 1 hour. Test by sticking a knife in at this stage and see if it is soft all the way through, if not put back in the oven for 30 minutes and repeat if necessary. Set aside to cool a little while you chop the onions.

• Heat 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil in a large pan and add the onions, cooking for about 15-20 mins on low.

• Once the pumpkin has cooled enough to touch it, cut out and throw away the seeds, then scrape the flesh out of the skin and put in a bowl. Keep the water that has been released from the pumpkin while cooking as this will go into the soup to add extra flavour.

• Once the onions are softened add the ginger, mix well and warm for 1 minute. Then add the squash, pumpkin and pumpkin water, chilli, crumbled stock cube, 1l of water, peanut butter and coconut milk; simmer for 15- 20 minutes.

• Blitz with a stick blender; you may need to add 100-200ml of water to get the right consistency, just do it gradually and then add the sea salt one tsp at a time. The quantity of extra water needed and salt will vary slightly depending on the size and how watery your pumpkin was.

• Serve with sourdough and a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Tip

• Cook the squash or pumpkin on the previous day to save time when making the soup as they take awhile too cook and use a lot of oven space.

• If it’s not pumpkin season then just use another butternut squash instead.