PUMPKIN SOUP

Good morning my lovelies,

I know I’ve been a bit M.I.A. recently and I am sorry. I have missed blogging, but as I have mentioned before I am taking a more relaxed stance on blogging now. If I manage to write and upload something brilliant, if not it’s not the end of the world either as this is only a hobby for me which is supposed to be fun and not stress me out aha! So I apologise if I also haven’t read and commented on as many of your lovely blog posts recently either, I guess I’ve just been busy enjoying life and being ill aha! Anyway lets get into this blog post!

It’s that time of year again – time to lug those heavy pumpkins home (if you don’t have a car like myself) and get carving! Because, let’s be honest who doesn’t love a good pumpkin carving session whilst having your favourite Halloween movies playing in the background?! However, in the spirit of trying to live more sustainably and produce less waste I want to urge you all not to throw away the innards of your pumpkins but be creative instead!!! Pumpkins can be used in so many scrumptious recipes from sweet to savoury. I’ve already tried three delicious recipes this year with my first few pumpkins and can’t wait to experiment more in a couple of weeks when I carve out the last of the decorative pumpkins! For now I want to share one of my all time favourites with you though and I’ve spiced this recipe up a little from last year, soo see what you think – here’s my pumpkin soup!

For 6 servings you will need:
1kg of pumkin – 200g of peeled carrots – 100g or peeled parsnips – 100g celery – 100g leek – 1 large red onion – 1l stock (made with 2 stock cubes and 1/2 tbsp of swiss bouillon) – 500ml of oat milk – pepper, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp parsley – 3 tbsp nutritional yeast – olive oil

Wash and peel the vegetables. Chop up the onions, leeks and celery. Heat the oil in a big soup pot. Add onions and saute for a few minutes. In the meantime, chop the carrots and parsnips and pumpkin. Boil 1l of water in the kettle. Now add the leeks, celery and pumpkin to saute for a few minutes too. Make your stock and pour into the pot before adding the parsnips and carrots. Stir well and then add all your herbs. Bring to boil and then reduce to a medium heat. Put lid on and let the vegetables cook for around 30 mins or until softened. Next add your nutritional yeast and oat milk before blending the soup; you can decide how coarse or smooth you want your soup. Last but not least, taste and add any extra seasoning if necessary.

For the roasted pumpkin seeds:
Pumpkin seeds – pepper, salt, garlic powder, paprika

Save the pumpkin seeds when carving your pumpkin. Wash them and spread them out on a tray over baking paper. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Roast in the oven at ca.200 degrees centigrade for around 10 mins (make sure to shake em up after 5 mins) .

Serve soup in your favourite bowl, top fresh basil and roasted pumpkin seeds and voila -sit down and enjoy!