Every fall, I crave a good curried pumpkin soup. It’s sweet, savoury and spicy and seriously takes cozy to a whole other level.
As a child, I never dreamed of doing anything with a fresh pumpkin other than carving it into a Halloween jack-o-lantern. We always did save the seeds we scraped out and roasted them in the oven for crunchy snacks. At least we had that. It wasn’t until my 20s that I actually started using pumpkin as an ingredient in my cooking. It was like the skies opened up and angels sang from above. Well, not really, but you get the point.
When I’m crunched for time, I use the canned organic pumpkin puree, but nothing beats the flavour (and nutrients) in a freshly roasted pumpkin that I puree myself and it’s SO easy. (I’ve included the steps for you here so you can try it out too if you haven’t yet.)
Pumpkin is such a great source of beta-carotene which our body converts into vitamin A and helps protect our vision, and mucous membranes. It’s also super high in some of our other fave antioxidants like vitamin C and E and it’s packed with fibre and other heart-healthy nutrients like potassium. And when you add curry power you automatically increase the anti-inflammatory benefits. Bam!
Either way you slice it, pumpkin is for more than just jack-o-lanterns this time of year and I’m so excited for you to try this super simple recipe.
This time around, I left in some chunks of potato to give it a more hearty texture, but you could also just puree the potatoes as well if you want. Your call. It’ll be delicious either way.
- - 1 medium-sized “sugar” pumpkin (not the big ones we carve at Halloween).
- - 2 tbsp. coconut oil
- - 1 large red onion (1 ½ cups diced).
- - 1 knob of ginger diced (heaping tbsp.)
- - 2 tbsp. curry powder
- - 3 medium white potatoes of choice
- - 4 cups organic veggie broth
- - ½ cup organic canned coconut milk
- - 1 tsp. sea salt
- - ½. tsp. nutmeg
- - t tbsp. chopped cilantro for garnish
- - freshly ground black pepper for topping
- - ¼ cup kefir/coconut milk or plain yogurt for drizzling
- - good quality oil for drizzle (olive, sesame, flax, avocado).
- Directions for roasting pumpkin:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Wash outside of pumpkin and slice in half with large butcher knife or cleaver
- Scoop out pumpkin seeds and strings with spoon and reserve
- Pat inner pumpkin flesh dry and brush with 1 tbsp. coconut oil, sprinkle with salt
- Place on baking sheet flesh side up and bake for about an hour
- Remove from oven, allow to cool, and whiz in food processor until smooth.
- Directions for Soup Recipe:
- Heat 1 tbsp. of coconut oil on medium/high heat add onions and cook until softening and fragrant (a few minutes)
- Add minced ginger and all spices and mix well. Let cook a few more minutes.
- Add pumpkin puree and vegetable broth, mix and bring to a light boil
- Add diced potatoes, partially cover
pot with lid and reduce heat to medium/low simmer for about 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. - Add ½ cup coconut milk, stir for another minute and then remove from heat.
Serve with side of multi-grain sourdough or gluten free flax crackers.
Are you impressed yet? Go on and go get those pumpkins! Try this recipe out and feel free to add your own chunky additions like extra cubed pumpkin, zucchini, or chopped kale. I’d love to know what you come up with. Keep me posted in the comments below!
KD
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