Spiced pumpkin soup with bacon
If you're growing your own pumpkins this year and want to use them for more than just a spooky Halloween decoration, this delicious soup is perfect!Rebecca from the T&M team says: "This is a really warming soup, perfect for a chilly day. We often add a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger for an added kick. For vegetarians, simply leave out the bacon and use vegetable stock. And for something a bit special, why not use the pumpkins themselves as the bowls? Just remove the tops and scoop out the flesh."
Equipment
- A pestle and mortar
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 50 g butter
- 900 g pumpkin
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 small dried chillies (to taste)
- 1 L stock (either vegetable or chicken)
- 4 rashers smoked bacon (optional)
- 100 ml single cream or Quark
Instructions
- Start by peeling and roughly chopping the onion and slicing the garlic. Gently cook in the melted butter until soft.
- Peel and chop the pumpkin, but keep the seeds to toast later as a healthy snack.
- Add the pumpkin flesh to the onion and garlic. Cook until the pumpkin browns at the edges.
- In a separate frying pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over a very low heat for about two minutes.
- Grind the aromatic spices with a pestle and mortar. Keep the pan for later.
- Add the spices and chopped chillies to the onion, garlic and pumpkin mix. Cook together for a minute and then add the stock.
- Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft.
- In the meantime, fry the bacon in the spice pan until it’s really crispy, then chop into small pieces and set aside.
- Pour the soup into a food processor or use a hand blender to blitz until smooth.
- Return the soup to a pan to warm through, stir through the cream, and add salt and pepper.
- Ladle into large bowls (or the pre-prepared pumpkins), sprinkle over the crispy bacon, and serve with lightly toasted sourdough bread.
Notes
Find out how to grow your own pumpkins from seed through to harvest at our pumpkin and squash hub page.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Rebecca works in the Marketing department as part of the busy web team, focusing on updating the UK news and blog pages and Thompson & Morgan’s international website. Rebecca enjoys gardening and learning about flowers and growing vegetables with her young daughter.