PUMPKIN SOUP

While I would like to say this is a perfect dish with winter approaching, Perth has actually just had a 30° day with more warm days to come over the Easter Long Weekend. But if you are a big lover of pumpkin soup like me then you can enjoy this dish at any time. There are two simple cooking techniques that are used which add so much flavour and to be honest there is only a handful of ingredients used so this dish is very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

– 850g Pumpkin Flesh

– Olive Oil

– 200g Unsalted Butter

– 3 Onions, peeled and finely sliced

– 400g Fresh Milk

– 4 Sprigs of Rosemary

– Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

– 40g Sesame Oil (or to taste)

– 40g Balsamic Vinegar (or to taste)

– Salt

METHOD

Peel and de-seed the pumpkin (I used three different pumpkins in my recipe as it adds to the flavour). You want to cut half into cubes, drizzle with olive oil and place into an oven that has been pre-heated (180°) and cook for approximately 40 minutes or until soft and caramelised. The other half cut finely with a mandolin or with a sharp knife and set aside.

Next you want to melt the butter in a large pot and sweat the onions with the pumpkin slices for ten minutes or until the onions go translucent.

 In the meantime, in a smaller pot heat the milk until it is almost simmering, turn off the heat, add the rosemary and allow to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid and discard the rosemary. Add the infused milk, cold tap water and the roasted pumpkin. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for ten minutes or until the pumpkin slices go soft.

When the pumpkin goes soft, remove from the heat and liquidize with a hand blender. The recipe says pass through a fine sieve but I don’t bother as all it does is make the soup thinner.

 Season with cayenne, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar and salt.

 Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!

Full credit to Heston Blumenthal’s “Heston Blumenthal at Home”

Link below with the full recipe from BBC

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015yt3v/features/pumpkin-soup