My Special Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Everyone loves a pumpkin soup and I am no exception to the rule. During the autumn and winter months, I enjoy making a pumpkin soup spiced with the correct amount of everything but I have to admit, I have met many people who think homemade soup is intimidating.

I am here to dispel those horrid rumours and teach you how you can make a spiced pumpkin soup that is nice, easy and doesn't take a lot of your effort to whip up!

Let's take a look...

Part 1: Lots of Veggies!

You Will Need:

• 2 Small Red Onions

• 3 Carrots

• 1 Bulb of Garlic

• 1 Red Pepper (Bell or Romano, it doesn't matter!)

• 1 Small Pumpkin

• 1 Tsp of Oil

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How To:

1. Grab a tray and lay down some greaseproof paper and preheat your oven to 200/C

2. Peel and roughly chop all of your veggies (do not peel the pumpkin or the carrots! trust me)

3. Lay them out on the tray

4. Sprinkle on the oil

5. Place the tray in the oven for 35-40 minutes

6. When you get them out, let them cook in the tray - they should look a bit like the photo below, nice and browned but not blackened

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Part 2: Time for Soup!

You Will Need:

• 1 Tsp Oil

• 1 Tsp Soy Sauce

• 1 Tsp Ground Salt

• 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

• 1 Tsp Turmeric Powder

• 10g Fresh Ginger (chopped roughly)

• 1 Tsp Nutmeg Powder

• 1 Tsp Paprika

• 1 Tsp Curry Powder (trust me)

• 1 Chopped Green Chilli (optional)

• 1 Vegetable Stock Cube

• 20ml Dairy Free Cream

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How To:

1. Nice and easy, grab a large pot and put all of the ingredients above except for the cream into the pot on a medium heat and wait for things to start going pop! - when you hear the sizzle, turn down the heat and add about 250-300ml of water and continue cooking

2. Once you notice a strong smell of spices from the water, add your cooked veggies and turn up to a medium heat. Cover the pot and wait for the water to seep into the veggies, allowing them to soften and squish

3. You may do this next step either in the pot with a hand-held blender or in a food processor: blitz all of the ingredients to form a watery paste-like texture - it should start to look like soup

4. If you've taken it out of the pot, transfer it back and add about 50ml more water, leave the lid off and cook the soup on a slightly higher heat for about 15 minutes, adding the cream very slowly and again, letting the soup cook without a lid

5. Once the soup has thickened a bit, remove it from the heat. And there, my friends, you have a wickedly spiced pumpkin soup!

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I personally love to serve soup with my famed garlic and cheese bread. If you're feeling brave or you've got some time to spare, you can check out the recipe by clicking here!