Spicy roast pumpkin soup recipe to take care of all the weather woes. Thick and creamy without the addition of any cream and spiced with warm cinnamon, cloves, and peppers.
This is my easiest and by far the best roast pumpkin soup recipe. Believe me when I say the easiest because I made it on a sick day. Some of you know that last whole week I was fighting a cold. Monday I was completely in bed and couldn’t even think of cooking anything. But Tuesday was better and I made this deliciously thick and creamy roast pumpkin soup for dinner which also served as my lunch on Wednesday. I love leftovers for lunch! Do you?
The beautiful thing about pumpkin is that it lends a thick creamy texture to the soup without needing to add any cream or butter. Last weekend when I went to the local vegetable market, the vendor was selling pieces cut off a big pumpkin. Now the REALLY BIG pumpkin is the pumpkin that is really sweet and I am never able to buy one because it is just way too large for our consumption. Which is why I always stick with butternut squash or small pumpkins. So when we saw this vendor selling a small piece, we were super delighted and even though it didn’t feature in our weekly meal plan, we bought a small 2-kilo chunk. [and changed our meal plan later!] The original plan was to cook the traditional Indian pumpkin fry because it tastes best with the sweet pumpkin but then I fell sick and the plan changed to a roast pumpkin soup instead! :p
The sweet pumpkin goes great with warm winter spices like cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and peppers. I used whole spices in the soup and then removed them before blending it with my stick blender. My stick blender is one of my most used gadgets in the kitchen. I mean all the curries, the soups, the smoothies, the ice-creams… I use it whenever I need blending. The best thing about using the stick blender? It allows you to work with hot liquids without worrying about any accidents!
Another herb that I fell in love with after my roasted butternut squash soup recipe is fresh rosemary. It gave such a beautiful depth to the soup that I added it to pumpkins while roasting and I was equally delighted by its subtle flavor in the soup. Just one twig.
Why is this the easiest roast pumpkin soup recipe?
Roast Pumpkin Soup Ingredients
You need just 4 categories of ingredients… actually 5 including garnishes
- Pumpkin: I’ve used a small piece cut from a large pumpkin but you can also use small pumpkins or if your supermarket stocks freshly cut pumpkins then that will skip you the step to chop it too.
- Aromatics: Fresh rosemary, whole cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and pepper. They add a beautiful warmth and aroma to the soup.
- Onions, ginger, and garlic: Usually my 3 base ingredients for every soup. They add both sweet and savory flavors to the soup.
- Olive oil: you can also use butter.
- Garnishes of your choice: I have used some spring onion greens and homemade croutons. But you can also use pepper flakes, coconut milk, pumpkin seeds.
How to make roast pumpkin soup
- Chop the pumpkin. This might be the longest step of this soup. You can even roast whole slices of pumpkin just like how we roast butternut squash halves. But you know chopping is sometimes very meditative and once I started, I just went with it :-).
- Toss the pumpkin in salt, pepper, and olive oil and roast in the oven.
- Cook the stock with onion, ginger, garlic and other aromatics. Once tender add the roasted pumpkins and cook for some more time.
- Blend using an immersion blender right in the pot or transfer the contents to a traditional blender and purée. Be careful when blending hot liquids in a traditional blender as the heat will create a lot of pressure.
If you like this recipe, please take a moment to rate it and/or leave your feedback in comments. It will really encourage me to keep exploring, learning and improving.
Spicy Roast Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 2 kg pumpkin cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt , to taste
- freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 onion , chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic , chopped
- 1 inch ginger , chopped
- 4 cup vegetable stock
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 star anise
- 3-4 cloves
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkin into small pieces. In a large bowl, toss the pumpkin with 1.5 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange in a baking pan and sprinkle some fresh rosemary.
- Roast (under the oven grill) for 15-20 minutes until soft. Turn the pumpkins at about the 10 minute mark for even cooking.
- While the pumpkins are roasting, heat remaining oil in a deep stock pot. Add onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and continue simmering.
- Once the pumpkins are done, add the pumpkins along with their juices to the stock pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, discard the cinnamon stick and star anise.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Or wait till the soup has cooled down a bit and then transfer in small batches to a traditional mixer and blend until smooth.
- Garnish with homemade croutons and spring onion greens. Enjoy hot.
Notes
- I’ve used homemade vegetable stock. You can also use stock cubes and 1-litre water.
- Optional Garnishes/ Variations:
- Stir in coconut cream after blending the soup.
- Add toasted pumpkin seeds
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