Creamy Pumpkin Soup

This week, on a visit to my good friends Kelvin and Eva, I was treated to a bowl of Eva’s delicious, Austrian-inspired pumpkin soup. I am please to say she has agreed to share the recipe in this guest post. Over to Eva. Enjoy!

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Homemade soups are one of my favourite comfort foods for a cold autumn day. As I am a member of a community farm near where I live, it’s that time of year when you get an abundance of different pumpkins and squashes. So here is a recipe that my mum used to make for us, served with a special pumpkin seed oil, that comes all the way from Austria, also referred to as the “black gold of Austria”.

You Will Need

• 2 -3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1kg pumpkin or squash (try kabocha), peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
• 1 sweet potato chopped into chunks
• 150g of lean smoked diced bacon
• 700ml vegetable stock
• 150ml double cream or sour cream or crème fraiche
• * Pumpkin seed oil, optional

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently cook the bacon till crisp. Add the chopped onions and garlic and cook for 5 mins, until soft but not coloured.
2. Add 1kg pumpkin or squash with the sweet potato chunks to the pan, then carry on cooking for 8-10 mins, stirring occasionally until it starts to soften and turn golden.
3. Add the paprika, give it a quick stir and immediately pour the vegetable stock into the pan and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins until the squash and potato are very soft.
4. Pour 150ml double cream into the pan, bring back to the boil, then purée with a hand blender.
5. Reheat the soup if needed, taste for seasoning, then serve scattered with croutons and a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil, if you want. A perfect accompaniment for a more complete meal is a freshly baked baguette!

*Styrian pumpkin seed oil is a geographic protected product by the EU. Nutty and rich, pumpkin seed oil is full of good fatty acids, minerals and vitamins and on top of it all it is cholesterol free. It partners perfectly with green salads, cheese, scrambled egg and pasta dishes. Did you know it takes 2.5-3kgs of pumpkin seeds to press 1 litre of pumpkin seed oil?

As the author of a guest post on A Different Kitchen, I get to choose the next track for Kevin’s ADK Playlist. This track reminds me of childhood dinners around the kitchen table in Austria with my family: Billy Joel with Piano Man.