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| Soup! |
Every year I've wanted to do a series of posts for Halloween but I've just never got around to it. this year however! I've already got a few things to share but I want to make more, still, I've got the time so there's no reason not to (unexpected events hopefully not occurring).
So I'm starting the Halloween vibe with this Pumpkin Soup, it's very straightforward to make, gluten free obviously and vegetarian if you omit the chicken stock for vegetable.
I've had a carved pumpkin pretty much every year for Halloween, and I've always been enticed by the gorgeous aroma that comes when the tea light has been on for a while and the flesh starts to warm. It's a delicious, cosy smell that has always made me think yum, I could eat that.
Funny then that it was only last week that I ate pumpkin for the very first time. After all those years of enjoying that unmistakable, heady Halloween smell.
I don't know why I'd never thought of cooking with pumpkin before, but I hadn't. Spurred on by wanting to get some Halloween content on here it dawned on me that a Pumpkin Soup was pretty blooming obvious.
So last week I made it for the first time, from scratch and no guidance as per usual. I didn't expect much but it actually turned out lovely.
So this week I documented it to share, and though very, very easy to make ordinarily, not so much when you've got a screaming (it's true) cat under your feet in the kitchen.
If you're a regular reader (why thank you!) you'll know that we've been having problems with Pix, she's always had a delicate stomach but the Summer heatwave really took it out of her and we've been having problems ever since. It's been horrible to see her suffer. Eating is a huge issue.
The series of events started when I took the pumpkin out of the fridge. By the time I was peeling the pumpkin the darling floofy had turned into a cat possessed by want. She wanted the pumpkin. Bad.
The whole process of making the soup lasted about 3 hours, not because it actually takes that long, but because I was making other stuff in between and I had a maniac Persian cat under my feet. Screaming at me, REALLY loudly.
The Pix scream is not a meow, it's a screech that - I'm pretty sure - can induce madness in humans. We had this noise for 3 f'ing hours until I accidentally dropped some pumpkin on the floor and she devoured it at speed.
Mystified as to why she wanted PUMPKIN so bad (and had shown interest last week which I guess was piqued by being given some and loving it), The Glutenite did a search, it turns out that pumpkin is really good for a cat's tummy. She's clever that one.
So as you read my recipe and look at the photo documentation, think of a manic ball of floof under my feet the whole time screaming at me like a possessed beast: Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Translation: GIVE ME THE F***ING PUMPKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| Skull Shots |
Ingredients;
1 Smallish Pumpkin (I'd say ours was around 3lbs whole)
5 Shallots (or onion if you can eat it)
25g Butter
1 Tablespoon Goundnut or Peanut Oil
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt
800ml Water
2 Chicken Knorr Stock Pots (or other gluten free brand)
100ml Dry White Wine
Big pinch of Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons of Oil for brushing the pumpkin I used Olive
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan / 200C non fan
- Cut the pumpkin in half
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| I Didn't Do This |
- Then quarters
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| I Didn't Do This Bit Either |
- Then halve each quarter
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| I'm A Total Girl, The Glutenite Did It All |
- Put the wedges onto a baking tray and brush with oil
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| Colour Coordinated Utensil *Nods* |
- Put the pumpkin into the preheated oven for 1 hour
- Remove from oven and leave to cool
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| MWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA |
- Peel the skin off and put to one side
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| Peeled Pumpkin |
- Peel and chop the shallots
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| My Eyes Were Watering So Much I Don't Know How This Photo Exists |
- Grind the coriander seeds
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| I Must Look Funny When I do This, I Sort Of Dance |
- Put the butter and oil into a large pan and heat on high
- Add the shallots, ground coriander seeds, garlic salt and cinnamon, stir
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| Sizzle |
- Turn the heat to low and cook until the onions are soft, around 10 minutes
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| Steamy Pic |
- Roughly chop the peeled pumpkin
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| See The Blur? MWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA |
- Put the chopped pumpkin into the pan, stir, turn the heat to high
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| Pile O'Pumpkin |
- Cook until softened, stirring occasionally, around 5 minutes
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| Nearly Soupy |
- Add the wine and stir until absorbed
- Add the water and stock pots, stir, bring to the boil, cover, then turn the heat to low to simmer for 1 hour
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| Bubble Bubble |
- Uncover and puree with a hand blender (or your method of choice)
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| Done! |
- Add sea salt to taste, stir
- Serve
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| In Keeping With The Theme |
I love the earthiness of this soup but there's a couple of things I'd like to experiment with (The Glutenite thinks it's great as is so it'll be covert experimentation). The first thing is if you wanted a richer flavour, another Stock Pot would do the job there. Then adding a little sweetness, I think a little honey could be interesting. I also think adding a little lime juice could bring some compatible zing to the table but as I'm just starting out with Pumpkin it's something I need to play around with.
I'd only add those things on their own, not as a combination. I'm not mad. Much.
More soon :)
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