Fussy Boy's New Favourite: Pumpkin Soup

The other day I felt like some pumpkin soup. It was a Saturday, and we were all home, but I knew that Fussy Boy (aka Dash) never touches anything as healthy as homemade soup full of vege goodness. So I dished up four bowls, for Papa, Mama, Princess and Baby Bear. Mmmmm, we slurped that pumpkinny goodness down and dipped our bread in. Baby didn't quite finish his, so there was a few spoonfuls left.

I was heading to the sink when Fussy Boy entered, come for his plain bread and butter.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Mmmm, yummy pumpkin soup!" I replied.

"Yeck!!" Mr Fussy said and pulled a face.

"Hey, want to try some? You might like it! Just a taste... here just a teensy bit...."

He hesitated and then came slowly forward, accepting the offered spoon (He has been improving at trying new foods).

Tentatively he stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked the tiniest dot of soup off the spoon... hesitated, took another little lick, then swallowed the whole lot!

"Yum!" he exclaimed. "Is there any more???"

I started dancing around the room singing, "You like pumpkin soup! You like pumpkin soup!" (OK, a little OTT, but this is Fussy Boy we are talking about here.)

He finished up what remained of the soup, and for the last few weeks he has been asking for more pumpkin soup.

So there are some pumpkins baking in the oven, and there will be pumpkin soup tonight. And here's the recipe that turned the skeptic into a Soup-Lover...

Roast Pumpkin Soup

The beauty of this recipe is that there is no chopping or peeling involved! I learned this method from my friend Sophie, when she lived here in New Zealand. You can also add peeled potatoes and/or kumara* to make a thicker (sweeter) soup that goes even further. In these photos I stuck the whole pumpkin in the oven (lazy me). It still worked OK but it was messy trying to get the seeds out. It's easier to buy the pumpkin in two halves and scoop the seeds out before cooking.

Ingredients

1 medium sized pumpkin (preferrably in two halves with seeds scooped out)
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 Tablespoon of chicken stock powder
2-3 teaspoons of Spices (garam masala or Ground cumin)
3-4 cups of water
Salt and black pepper to taste

• Bake the pumpkin in the oven for about 1 hour at 180oC, or until soft and skin is easy to peel. Peel off the skin (this comes away very easily once pumpkin is cooked)
• In a large pot, heat the oil then saute the onions and garlic. Add pumpkin and spices
• Add water, enough until the pumpkin is well covered; then add chicken stock, cover and reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer for half an hour or so.
• Put the mixture into a blender and give it a whizz until smooth.

Serve with crusty fresh bread and a sprinkle of grated cheese and cracked black pepper. Yummo!
Leftovers (if there are any) can be kept in the fridge and re-heated the next day. They can also be frozen.

*Kumara is New Zealand sweet potato